Something New — Baseball Bench Coach

When I was a little boy I spent hours on our driveway throwing a rubber ball against the garage door framing. Luckily, we had a two-car garage separated by a two feet wide concrete divider to provide a strike zone. I played and yes, announced while playing, every Reds game season after season. I had my own rules, such as if the ball eluded me and went to the sidewalk, it was a double, and if it reached the street, a home run! My rules were somewhat different, but I loved every minute of my version of baseball. The MLB has announced some new rules for the upcoming 60-game season, a version of baseball that is also somewhat different. I say let’s embrace them; they are simply “something new”.

We can all agree on the necessity of the health precautions being taken in view of COVID-19. Players and coaches will be tested every other day. In addition, team personnel and players not likely to participate in the game (e.g., the starting pitcher for the next game) will be seated at least six feet apart in the stands or another designated area away from the dugout. Non-playing personnel are to wear masks in the dugout and bullpen at all times. Players can no longer spit or chew tobacco, but chewing gum is permitted. There can be no celebratory contact, such as high-fives, fist bumps, or hugs. Pitchers won’t be able to step off the mound and go to their mouth, but they will be able to use their own small, wet rag and resin bag. And finally, the 60-game schedule will be designed to reduce travel during the season. Bottom line, there will be proper protocols in place on and off the field.

Some of the new rules though push the conflict between the traditionalist’s view of the game and a new way of thinking. Here’s a news flash, the 47-year battle between National League and American League followers is officially over. MLB is adopting the Universal DH for the 2020 season. In announcing the Universal DH, MLB stressed the change is for the health and safety of the players, in particular pitchers who might risk injury or exhaustion while batting and running the bases. While that is a concern, the heart of the issue is the creation of more jobs for MLB players. Adopting the Universal DH for this season may turn out to be a major concession as the end of the collective bargaining agreement looms in 2021. MLB has essentially let the genie out of the bottle.

How does this play out on the field? American League fans have long argued that the DH rule allows for more offense and a more exciting game for fans. In 2018, pitchers batted just .115 and admittedly, there are only a few, select pitchers on each team who can effectively handle the bat. With a game that continues to get longer (the average time of a 9-inning MLB game in 2019 reached an all-time high of 3 hours, 5 minutes, and 35 seconds), baseball has been searching for ways to be more appealing to fans. Indeed, a rule already in place for 2020 addresses speed of play concerns by requiring a new pitcher to face 3 batters in an inning, unless the inning is completed. Changing the game to make it more exciting is at the core of the traditional vs. new approach conflict. The traditionalist has long opposed the DH rule by stressing the intricacies of in-game strategies, such as bunting and the double switch. Although I’m a National League fan and perhaps a little “old timey”, I must admit I’m on the fence about the Universal DH change, a good six feet away from either side. For more background, see “Universal DH” (May 25, 2020).

One new rule that does seem to cross the line of messing with tradition is beginning each half-inning of an extra inning game with a runner on second base. MLB has supported the change by pointing to player stamina concerns in longer outings. Is it truly a problem? In any given season, only 7 to 8% of games go to extra innings, and in 40% of those, the game lasts just 10 innings. In 2019, only 74 games, or 1.5 % of total games played, went more than 12 innings. To put it in terms of this season’s 60-game schedule, we are only talking about 27 games (less than 2 per team). When I first heard about the new rule, my thoughts turned to hockey, a sport that by its nature struggles with games ending in a tie after regulation. In order to address the notion that fans don’t like coming home from a tie game, the NHL overtime rules have evolved, first with a simple 5-minute overtime, and now with lesser players on the ice in overtime and an added shoot-out period. Yikes, let’s not head down the road of gimmickry deciding game results.

With the extra innings rule in place for 2020, how are managers going to deal with it? The batter who made the final out in the previous inning will be the runner placed on second base, unless the manager opts for a pinch runner. That might create a roster spot for a specialty pinch runner on each team, such as the Dodgers’ Terrence Gore. And you never know, we might find ourselves seeing a little old school play with the first hitter laying down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to third, especially if the visiting team does not score in the first half of the inning. While I’m troubled about messing with the game to create a quick resolution, I must admit I’m intrigued by what managerial strategy we might see. At least it’s going to be something new. For more background, see “Extra Innings” (May 6, 2019).

How general managers handle the new rules for team rosters in the shortened season will also be critical. All teams will open the season with a 30-man roster that will be reduced to 28 players after two weeks of play, and 26 players after four weeks. The 26-player roster was previously adopted for this year, up from 25. Teams are permitted to have three taxi squad players on the road, one of which must be a catcher. This past week teams were required to submit to MLB their 60 player pools from which the rosters can be drawn. The purpose of the player pools is to have players available, working out at off-site locations, and baseball ready. Some interesting trends came out of the player pool announcements. Most teams opted to name only 50 or so players, allowing some flexibility as we move forward into the season. And a majority of the player pool names were pitchers. Pitching depth, and in particular bullpen depth, may be the key to team success this season.

There are a few off the field impacts the roster changes might trigger. First, with a limit of 60 players in each team pool and the announcement this week that the minor league seasons have been cancelled, player development will suffer a severe blow. While some teams might have recently drafted early round pitchers primed for spot relieving in their player pools, it’s hard to imagine young position players getting the same opportunities. Second, as the season hopefully moves forward with playoffs beginning in October, two deadlines have been moved. The new trading deadline will be August 31, and to be eligible for a postseason roster, a player has to be on the MLB team as of September 15. There might be a wild, late scramble by teams wanting to make the playoffs offering prospects for top players who are free agent eligible after this year or next.

With COVID-19 always lurking, it’s so difficult to predict what’s going to transpire over the coming months. Which teams are best suited for the new rules, which general managers will make the most of their rosters, and which managers will employ the right strategy. Rick Hahn, White Sox general manager, said it best this week about the new rules: “In a year where we’re playing 60 games, why not try something a little different? Why not experiment a little bit? This is the time to try this stuff.” Yes, it will be so good to have our game of baseball back in a few weeks. And I’ll take what I can get, even something new.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach