Wednesday, February 21, 2018

The MLB's Confusing New "Pace Of Play" Initiatives

"candlesticks always make a nice gift"
Leave it to Major League Baseball to royally screw up a well-intentioned initiative. Previously, we have lauded Commissioner Rob Manfred for taking on the players "union" and trying to shorten games with pace-of-play initiatives. A pitch clock was originally slated for this season, but somehow got waylaid during negotiations. Now, the actual 2018 initiatives are well-intentioned but totally confusing and lacking teeth. The major change is that mound visits by anyone (that don't involve a pitching change) will be limited to six in a nine-inning game. Except, not really. At the umpire's discretion, teams can get additional visits for a compelling reason. Plus, there is no sanction for just making extra visits without permission. Also, teams get an additional visit for every extra inning played. This is a policy?