Everything you didn't know you...

DUNEDIN, Fla. — At this point, it’s difficult to be a baseball fan and not know that the league is implementing a series of relatively drastic rule changes in 2023. In a concerted and explicit effort to speed up the game while adding more old-school action, Major League Baseball is debuting a pitch timer, a ban on shifts and bigger bases this season.

We’ll have to wait for real games — and maybe even really meaningful games — to find out how effective these measures will be and the possible shenanigans that will ensue when they’re applied. But between understanding the rules in the abstract and analyzing teams’ attempts to eke out an advantage in their optimization is learning the nitty gritty of what they’ll look like in practice.

Accordingly, MLB hosted a couple of demo days to kick off spring training this week, explaining the machinations of the rules and relating them to various in-game situations. Turns out there’s a lot more to know than you might’ve realized. Bigger bases probably don’t need to be expounded upon (my take: compared to the now baby-seeming bases, it looks like a big change, but I’m sure it’ll be rendered imperceptible in the absence of close comparison), but let’s dig into some other details.

Pitch clock

The basics: Pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches when the bases are empty and 20 seconds between pitches with runner(s) on base. Batters have to be in the box and ready by the time the countdown clock reaches eight seconds. Violations by the pitcher result in an automatic ball and violations by the batter an automatic strike.

To prevent pitchers from constantly resetting the clock, they'll be allowed only two “disengagements” (i.e. pick-off attempts) per at-bat. A third failed pickoff will result in a balk. Batters will get one timeout per at-bat.

Pitching deliveries

This is a new one! Or, actually a renewed one. As we’ve seen in the past (anyone remember the sticky stuff crackdown?) some of baseball’s longstanding written rules have faded as enforcement waned. Among them is a strict definition of balks and legal pitching deliveries. Teams were starting to notice a number of balks going uncalled last year. Now the pitch clock adds an extra level of importance to clean deliveries; the clock stops when a pitcher begins his motion, which means there must be a clear delineation point.

This season, with the bases empty, pitchers working out of the windup are permitted only one step back or to the side at the beginning of their delivery. With runners on base, a pitcher’s delivery begins as soon as he lifts his front foot. In other words, he can’t tap his front foot repeatedly; however, he can sway back and forth while balanced on his back leg, a la Nestor Cortés Jr.