MLB announces pace of play changes for 2018, with mound visits taking the biggest hit

As promised, MLB announced a few pace of play changes that will be implemented starting this season. On Monday, the league announced that teams are now limited to six mound visits per nine innings and put forth guidelines for a countdown clock that is active during commercial breaks as well as pitching changes.

In a press release, commissioner Rob Manfred said,

“I am pleased that we were able to reach an understanding with the Players Association to take concrete steps to address pace of play with the cooperation of players. My strong preference is to continue to have ongoing dialogue with the players on this topic to find mutually acceptable solutions.

The mound visits are going to be the more contentious change in the short term, but the changeover clock is clearly going to be used to pave the way for a pitch clock. It would seem both changes will impact the game pretty significantly over the next few seasons.

The six mound visits apply to all members of the team, not just coaches. So a catcher or a second baseman going to chat with their pitcher now carries the same weight as a coach going out to gauge the situation. When games go to extras, each team will get another visit per inning.

Teams won’t be penalized for a mound visit if a pitcher might be injured, or after an offensive substitution. Expect a lot of managers to start practicing their “my pitcher might be injured oh nope look he’s fine now but that was a good chat” faces. The umpire may also allow a catcher to make a mound visit if a team is out of visits and the ump thinks a cross-up in signs is happening, so as to avoid injuries that could be easily avoided by two people talking to each other.

If teams accidentally (or purposely) go to the mound a seventh time? Well ...

There is no way we don’t get at least half a dozen hilariously out-of-control arguments because of that rule. This is good now.

The clock, meanwhile, will run for two minutes and five seconds during changeovers in normal games, two minutes and 25 seconds for national games, and two minutes and 55 seconds in postseason games. That’s plenty of time still, but it is a reduction from how much time pitchers and batters have to get settled between innings now.

The big difference here is that the rule as it is written specifically denotes that the pitcher must begin his delivery when the clock hits zero. It certainly sounds like something nearing a pitch clock to me.

Players aren’t going to be happy about this. But they’re probably going to be less unhappy than they’d be if there was a full-on pitch clock being put into place along with the current changes. At least the gradual rollover allows them to get used to one thing before having to be disgruntled about the next thing.