Major League Baseball announced updated standards for the pitch clock and other established rules for the upcoming 2024 season. The headline from the set of announcements is an updated pitch clock with a reduced time.
After one season of implementation, MLB is adjusting the pitch clock. After initially going for 20 seconds during the rule’s maiden voyage, it will be 18 seconds in 2024.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers wrote on the rule changes and highlighted the pitch clock changes:
With men on base, pitchers will have 18 seconds instead of 20 to begin their motion to home. However, there won’t be any changes to the clock when the bases are empty. Hurlers will still have 15 seconds to begin their delivery in those situations. According to the league, pitchers began their deliveries with an average of 7.3 seconds remaining on the 20-second timer in 2023.
Other adjustments include extending the batter’s lane as well as a rule where mound visits were trimmed down and that any pitcher who begins their warmup must face at least one batter.
These rule changes prompted an immediate response from the Players’ Association. It’s safe to say that they aren’t thrilled about it.
Executive Director Tony Clark expressed that player representatives voted against these rule changes and the belief from their camp is that the changes are entirely too snappy. There’s some weight to that, as the MLBPA expressed in a statement that this year should be used to gather more information and data as opposed to making an abrupt change.
It doesn’t sound like this will be resolving quietly, so it will be interesting to see how these changes are met and if there’s any reconventions.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022