Banned shifts, pitch clocks could be coming to MLB in 2023

When baseball returns, game-altering rule changes could soon follow.

Major League Baseball and the players union came to an agreement Sunday that could make it easier for the league to implement rule changes in three specific areas: pitch clocks, banned shifts and enlarged bases. For changes pertaining to those three areas, the league now only has to give 45 days notice instead of the full year for other rules. 

The change increases the likelihood of those alterations making it to the MLB for the 2023 season. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the players union has already agreed to those rule changes during lockout negotiations. However, robot umpires for the 2022 or 2023 seasons were rejected by the union, per Heyman.

Pitch clocks have been tested by MLB in the minors. In 2021, Low Single-A had pitch clocks, leading to game times cut by nearly 20 minutes. The length of MLB games — three hours, 10 minutes last season — is one of the league’s top concerns, as the time it takes to complete nine innings has increased by 20 minutes since 2005. 

The league’s proposal is to institute a 14-second pitch clock with bases empty and a 19-second clock with runners on, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. 

While it’s unclear how exactly a shift ban would be implemented, the league hopes the change will help boost offense. With teams using more aggressive shifts by utilizing data, some hitters who don’t equally distribute their batted balls have struggled. One player in particular is Yankees slugger Joey Gallo, a power-hitting lefty with a career .206 batting average.

“I get the defensive strategies. I do. I am 100 percent not against that. But I think at some point, you have to fix the game a little bit,” Gallo told The Athletic. “I don’t understand how I’m supposed to hit a double or triple when I have six guys standing in the outfield.”

MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer, never shy to give his two cents on any topic on Twitter, also weighed in about the potential rule changes. 

“If we’re banning the shift let’s just ban breaking balls and all off-speed pitches too while we’re at it,” he tweeted, unhappy with the rule changes that benefit hitters.