Baseball Experiments — Baseball Bench Coach

It’s August and what many baseball enthusiasts have described as the “dog days of summer” for our national pastime. Temperatures on the field and the pennant races themselves are really heating up. Yet, if you listen to sports talk shows, the chatter is about the NFL training camps and the impact of NBA free agency. Hey sports world, how about focusing on baseball where the only meaningful games are actually being played? Is baseball not the national pastime anymore, but rather past its time? With attendance at ballparks and viewership generally on a downward trend, MLB has cause for concern.

In its July 29 article (“How the Atlantic League Became MLB’s Laboratory for the Future of Baseball”), Sports Illustrated explains how MLB is using the Atlantic League, a top independent league, to address the topic. Over the next three years the Atlantic League, which is not affiliated with any MLB franchise, will test some cutting edge technology and proposed new rules so that MLB can determine how it can make baseball more appealing to a larger audience. Let’s take a look at how these changes are being implemented in the Atlantic League and determine what might make sense for the game we love.

The most controversial change is the use of “TrackMan”, a radar-based tracking system to call balls and strikes for home plate umpires. Yes, robo umps have arrived! On July 10 the new automated ball-strike system was introduced in the Atlantic League’s All-Star Game and now is featured in every Atlantic League ballpark. The umpires wear AirPods and hear “strike” whenever any portion of the pitch crosses home plate in the hitter’s strike zone. Early feedback by players and managers alike has not been good. It’s been estimated that the system fails every 1 of 6 pitches, especially with regard to high pitches being called strikes. The system continues to be adjusted.

While the technology will indeed improve, the question is whether it should be used in the game. I watch numerous MLB games with the imaged strike zone on the television screen. In my estimation home plate umpires overall do a respectable job in calling their games. And yes, the human element matters! I think the better use of strike-zone technology would be for the MLB to effectively grade home plate umpire performance. We all see the clear missed calls at the plate. But more often than not, it is a small number of the umpires. If one’s home plate performance grades out poorly, how about having that umpire not be part of the home plate rotation. Let’s perfect the strike zone technology and use it wisely.

In terms of rule changes, the Atlantic League began the season with a definitive no visits to the mound rule by any player or coach unless a pitching change is being made. The obvious attempt is to speed up the game. But sometimes a pitcher clearly needs information about a batter or situation. And more often than not, an encouraging word or even a breather are welcomed on the mound. I used to laugh when I heard parents from the sidelines in my early pitching days say “just throw strikes”. Maybe that’s where we are headed with this change! To be fair, the Atlantic League did tweak the rule recently to allow the pitcher and catcher to briefly discuss new signs with runners on base. I, for one, say “No!” to this no mound visit change and let’s stay put with the current MLB rule of 5 mound visits per team in a game.

Another Atlantic League experiment is to prohibit defensive shifts. The initial rule provided that the third baseman and shortstop had to play on the left side of second base and the first and second basemen on the right side, while every infielder had to be on the dirt portion of the infield. I frankly don’t understand how you can tie the hands of managers in this way. Hitters, not managers, need to adjust to today’s defensive shifts. The very basics of hitting include how to hit to the opposite field, and oh my gosh, even learning how to bunt! The Atlantic League recently changed the rule by allowing infielders to play deep in the hole in the outfield grass but maintaining that two infielders have to be on each side of the infield. It’s still a crazy rule. Let’s not go down that baseline path!

An Atlantic League change this year, and one which will be adopted by MLB next year, is a 3-batter minimum for pitchers unless it is at the end of an inning. Gone will be the day of the tedious pitching change batter after batter as a manager looks for the best matchup. The big plus side to this change is not just to the speed of the game, but rather to the makeup of the major league rosters. Instead of today’s 13 pitchers on a 25 player roster (which is expanding to 26 next year), a manager will be able to utilize a roster spot or two for uniquely skilled players, pinch hitters, speedsters, or defensive specialists. Baseball strategy, away from the pitcher vs. hitter concern, will be boosted and the net gain will be greater interest.

Paul Sullivan, a sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune, recently suggested a couple tongue in cheek changes that cut to the heart of the “swing for the fences” mantra of today’s game. How about raising the pitching mound? Baseball played 50 years ago was pitching-dominated. Bob Gibson’s 1968 season for the St. Louis Cardinals is a good example. Gibby compiled an ERA of 1.12, the lowest in over 50 years, and threw 13 shutouts. He wasn’t alone; indeed, 1968 was called the “Year of the Pitcher”. As a result, the pitching mound was lowered the next year to give the pitchers less advantage. And obviously, the pendulum has swung far too back as now hitting dominates baseball.

We’ve recently heard lots of talk around the ball being “juiced”, so much so that the Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, addressed the issue at the All-Star Break. Houston Astros’ standout pitcher Justin Verlander was the first player to speak out about it. When you watch the games or simply review the stats, there just has to be something about the makeup of the actual baseball today. Paul Sullivan’s idea, somewhat sarcastically, is to “deaden” the ball. While I’m not advocating going back to the “Dead Ball Era” where we only could use 6 or 8 baseballs a game out of necessity, it’s worth exploring how to manufacture baseballs to keep the ball in the ballpark more and create increased action on the field. Let’s at least have MLB take a real interest in what the baseball manufacturers are doing, something that Manfred dismissed in his remarks.

The bottom line of all of this is interest in the game. Atlantic League attendance is up for the season, but most of that I would think is the novelty of the changes. I tend to attack problems at the base. Maybe instead of finding ways to dramatically change MLB, we should explore ways to speed up the game played in Little League parks across the country. Let’s go back to getting our youth interested in playing our national pastime.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach