A tighter, 18-second pitch clock with runners on base … a new, wider runner’s lane between home and first base … one fewer visit to the mound.
All of the rule changes will come to Major League Baseball in 2024, as part of a series of tweaks and changes MLB announced Thursday. The Athletic Many of these proposals were first reported in early November from the general managers’ meetings. They were formally approved by the competition committee on Thursday. The most notable changes are these:
The pitch clock: With runners on base, pitchers will have 18 seconds between pitches, down from 20 this year. MLB proposed the change after seeing the average time of a nine-inning game grow by more than seven minutes, from 2 hours, 36 minutes in April to 2:44 in September.
The runner’s line: After years of complaints, MLB will expand the foul area along the first-base line by 6 inches next season. Runners have argued for years that the current runner’s lane forces them to zig-zag between fair and foul territory on their way to first base. This change was intended to allow runners to take a more direct route from home to first, without having to be called for interference.
Fewer mound visits: The number of visits to the mound will decrease from five per team, per game to four, although teams that use their allocation will get one additional visit in the ninth inning, as in the past. Mound visits increased slightly in 2023, as teams began using them as a way to prevent pitch-clock violations. But MLB says mound visits consistently rank, in surveys, among fans’ least popular single-game events. And teams have used more than four visits in just about 2 percent of all games this year. Another subtle change: To help tighten the pace of games, catchers will now be allowed to call for a visit to the mound to avoid a clock violation but won’t actually have to go through the formality of going to the mound.
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There are three other fixes in terms of game speed:
- MLB will shave 15 seconds off the time relievers have to warm up if they leave the bullpen late after a mid-inning pitching change. They will now have two minutes to complete warmups, from the time they leave the bullpen, instead of the previous 2:15.
- After a foul ball, the pitch clock starts when the ball is in the pitcher’s hands and all fielders have returned to their positions. The language in the previous rule required the clock to be paused until the pitcher returned to the mound, allowing pitchers to stop by taking their time returning to the mound.
- Also, any pitcher who warms up at the start of an inning now will have to face at least one hitter. That change was in response to an increase in the number of times a pitching change occurred after a pitcher warmed up before the start of an inning — mostly after a pinch hitter’s announcement. Now, the pitcher must stay in the game for at least one more hitter, even if the batting team makes a lineup switch. According to MLB, there have been 24 occasions this season — including two in the World Series — where a pitcher warmed up between innings but left without facing a hitter in that inning.
Three other proposed changes will not be implemented (yet). After the players voiced their opposition, MLB withdrew a proposal that would have required the umpire to restart the pitch clock immediately after a batter called a timeout. There are now no plans to move forward with that change, according to major league sources familiar with those discussions.
However, a proposed change that would tighten the language around fielders blocking the bases is still being discussed — and could still be implemented for 2024.
A rule that would require all pitchers to work from the stretch with any runners on base is still being discussed. The starters objected to that proposal because they preferred to work from the windup with the runner on third. And relievers have concerns as more and more adopt a “hybrid” delivery — part-windup, part-stretch — as a strategy to control the running game.
The changes announced Thursday will all take effect next year, starting with spring training. MLB thought they could shorten the average game time by about five minutes. The changes follow more than a month and a half of discussions, during which MLB and the competition committee surveyed players, managers, coaches, front offices and owners on how each idea would affect the game.
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(Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
