Pirates react to MLB rule changes to restrict shifts, add pitch timer, make bases bigger

When asked about the three MLB rules changes for 2023, Bryan Reynolds broke into a big smile. The Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for the elimination of one in particular.

Reynolds is sick of the shift, so he welcomes the requirement that teams must have a minimum of four infielders, with two defenders on each side of second base who start with their feet on the infield dirt.

“Hell yeah, I love it,” said Reynolds, a switch hitter. “You can hit a ball in the hole again. Righties always get to hit the ball in the hole; lefties can hit it in the hole. I’m happy with it. I think it’s huge.”

Baseball is not only restricting the defensive shift but implementing a pitch timer and making its bases bigger, rules that its newly formed Joint Competition Committee voted to pass on Friday with the aim of improving the action, pace of play and making the sport safer.

“We’ve tried to address the concerns expressed in a thoughtful way, respectful — always — of the history and traditions of the game, and of player concerns,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said. “Our guiding star in thinking about changes to the game has always been our fans. ‘What do our fans want to see on the field?’”

The research, Manfred said, showed that fans want to see a faster pace, more action with balls in play and the athleticism of the players. The rule changes were first tested at the minor league level, and Pirates catcher Jason Delay experienced the pros and cons of the pitch timer while playing at Triple-A Indianapolis earlier this summer.

MLB will use a 30-second timer between batters, a 15-second timer between pitches with the bases empty and a 20-second timer with runners on base. The bases also will expand from 15 inches square to 18 inches square, creating a 4 1/2-inch reduction between the bases.

“It was a big adjustment early on in the season, but I feel like people adjusted quickly,” Delay said. “The first couple weeks, people were getting balls called and strikes called. It was frustrating, to make that big change kind of out of nowhere but if that’s something we’re going to have to do, we’re going to have to be prepared for it.”

Pirates reliever Wil Crowe, the team’s MLB Players Association representative, said players approved the larger bases but voted unanimously against the pitch timer and the shift restrictions and indicated that they aren’t happy about the sudden change to the sport.

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“It’s going to be a big change,” Crowe said. “It being so drastic at the beginning is the thing that’s going to be such a difference for a lot of us. We don’t want to play three-and-a-half hour games as players. We understand the concept behind that. We don’t like it to take forever, and you know there’s a way to get around that. But, at the same time, when guys are on base and you’re late in games, when games are on the line, it means more than a 20-second clock.”

Crowe was particularly upset with the pitch clock, which charges an automatic ball to pitchers who don’t deliver in time or an automatic strike to batters who violate the timer.

“The hitter’s going to be a lot more affected by it then the pitcher is,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I think as we’ve seen in the game today, hitters step out and take a lot more time out in between. The way I’ve initially read it, that’s going to be clamped down on.”

Where minor league game times were reduced by 26 minutes, stolen bases increased from 2.23 in 2019 to 2.83 this season. Shelton anticipates that the emphasis on players who make contact and can steal bases likely will affect how teams build their rosters next season.

“People that put the ball in play a lot could possibly have more value,” Shelton said. “Obviously you’re still going to want to hit the ball hard. Obviously that’s going to be the first thing that stands out, but contact is gonna be something that’s greater, because I’m sure at some point somebody’s going to do a study of, you take all the games this year and you take the shift away and then there’s going to be value put to those players.”

As someone who represents the players, Crowe isn’t happy about how soon the rule changes will be implemented and that there isn’t anything the players can do about them once the regular season starts.

“We will adjust. But it’s going to mess with some guys and it’s going to mess with some big-time moments in the game,” Crowe said. “I just hope it doesn’t take away from the integrity of the game, because that’s what we didn’t want to happen and what we think probably might happen. I think the reason we’re upset is we’re the ones that live it. We’re the ones out there every day. We were fine making gradual changes but the big jumps just crush us.”