The Atlantic League, a minor league hotbed for innovation in baseball, will announce plans Wednesday to move the pitcher’s mound back 12 inches from home plate this season, according to two people with knowledge of the arrangement. The move represents one of the most stark rule changes proposed by baseball leadership in a generation and comes amid sweeping changes on the minor league leveldesigned to improve the on-field product.
The eight-team Atlantic League, which has franchises along the East Coast, will enact the change during the second half of its 120-game regular season, one person familiar with the matter said. It will be the first change of mound regulations in professional baseball since 1969, when MLB lowered the mound after a season in which seven starting pitchers posted sub-2.00 ERAs.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/04/14/atlantic-league-move-back-pitchers-mound/MLB officials pushed for the change after years of internal deliberations about altering the distance from the mound to home plate, one of the people familiar with the discussions, who spoke anonymously so as to freely detail the private sessions, told The Washington Post. It is geared toward increasing action on the base paths and cutting down on strikeouts and home runs.
“[MLB leaders] reached the conclusion that the things that drew us to the game in the first place are being eclipsed by absolute outcomes, and, frankly, people find it boring,” one of the people involved in the decision said. “Batters will hit the ball more frequently, and that’s really the root of what we’re doing here.”
The Atlantic League will also institute a “double hook” rule governing the designated hitter: Teams can keep a DH in their lineups as long as their starting pitcher remains in the game. When a manager goes to the bullpen, the new pitcher must bat or be substituted out of the game.
mlb needs to stop screwing with the game.
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