Everything you didn't know you need to know about MLB's new rules

DUNEDIN, Fla. — At this point, it’s difficult to be a baseball fan and not know that the league is implementing a series of relatively drastic rule changes in 2023. In a concerted and explicit effort to speed up the game while adding more old-school action, Major League Baseball is debuting a pitch timer, a ban on shifts and bigger bases this season.

We’ll have to wait for real games — and maybe even really meaningful games — to find out how effective these measures will be and the possible shenanigans that will ensue when they’re applied. But between understanding the rules in the abstract and analyzing teams’ attempts to eke out an advantage in their optimization is learning the nitty gritty of what they’ll look like in practice.

Accordingly, MLB hosted a couple of demo days to kick off spring training this week, explaining the machinations of the rules and relating them to various in-game situations. Turns out there’s a lot more to know than you might’ve realized. Bigger bases probably don’t need to be expounded upon (my take: compared to the now baby-seeming bases, it looks like a big change, but I’m sure it’ll be rendered imperceptible in the absence of close comparison), but let’s dig into some other details.

Pitch clock

The basics: Pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches when the bases are empty and 20 seconds between pitches with runner(s) on base. Batters have to be in the box and ready by the time the countdown clock reaches eight seconds. Violations by the pitcher result in an automatic ball and violations by the batter an automatic strike.

To prevent pitchers from constantly resetting the clock, they'll be allowed only two “disengagements” (i.e. pick-off attempts) per at-bat. A third failed pickoff will result in a balk. Batters will get one timeout per at-bat.

What you didn’t know you need to know:

• The clock starts when pitchers get the ball from the catcher, and they have until it runs out to begin their delivery.

• A pitcher’s “disengagements” count resets if a runner advances. In other words, if the pitcher throws over twice and then the runner successfully steals second — or there’s a balk or a passed ball, etc. — the pitcher gets another two pick-off attempts.

• Inning breaks are on a strict time limit now. For local games, the break is 2:15, for national games, it’s 2:40, and for postseason games, it’s 3:10.

• The clock will be controlled by a person. MLB is currently hiring clock operators (they will be league, not team, employees known as “field timing coordinators”) to work at all 30 ballparks. These individuals will manage a switchboard of sorts that starts and stops the clocks — two in the outfield and three behind home plate. Like the players, the clock operators will use spring training to practice staying locked in.

• Umpires are still calling the shots. Essentially all the extenuating circumstances come down to the fact that umpires have discretion to pause, reset and restart the clock, which they’ll do by communicating with the field timing coordinators (FTC) through microphones and earpieces. Umpires can tell an FTC if they think the clock was started too soon, for instance, and they’re empowered to react to game situations. Examples: If a catcher makes the final out of a half-inning and needs some time to get his gear back on, an umpire can wait to start the clock. If a batter gets something in their eye and needs to step out, an umpire can allow that. If a manager comes out on the field to argue a call or even if a brawl breaks out, an umpire can leave the clock off until the dust has settled.

• Umpires will have help keeping track of the time. As the seconds wind down, umpires have to get in position to call balls and strikes (for now, anyway), which means they can’t always be focused on the clock. And so, to make sure they’re aware when time runs out, umpires will be given wristbands that buzz when the clock reaches zero.

• The clock won’t start until everyone is back to their position. The first requirement for starting the clock is that the pitcher has the ball and is on the dirt of the mound. But, for instance, if a ball is fouled off down the line and the fielders run after it — and, potentially, any base runners take off — the clock for the next pitch will not start until everyone on the field has returned to their position.

• Umpires have been told to be on the lookout for some common circumvention tactics. Namely, catchers holding the ball extra long after a pitch is delivered or pitchers stalling on the grass before returning to the mound. Umpires are empowered to warn players and assign violations if the behavior persists.

• If a pitch is delivered after a violation is called, it’s a dead ball – meaning even if the pitch is hit out of the park, it doesn’t count if there was a pitch clock infraction. This is unlikely to happen in practice, however, as umpires have been instructed to demonstrably step out and stop play in the event of a pitch clock infraction.

• Pitchers might be able to call their own games. In spring training, MLB is experimenting with giving pitchers the same PitchCom wristbands that catchers used to call games last year so that they can call their own pitches. This way, pitchers with abundant arsenals won’t run out the clock shaking off their catchers. If this practice goes over well in spring, it could be implemented as soon as this regular season.

Defensive positioning

The basics: The fielding team must have four infielders on the dirt at the start of each pitch, with at least two defenders entirely on each side of second base.

What you didn’t know you need to know:

• Fielders must be in accordance with the positioning rules from the time the pitcher begins his delivery until he releases the ball. Which is to say, they can’t attempt to reposition themselves on the other side of second or back-pedal onto the grass as a pitch is being delivered.

• Most ballparks had to adjust their infield dimensions a little. Now that the boundary between the dirt infield and grass outfield factors into the rules so heavily, the distance had to be standardized across ballparks. Before Opening Day, MLB will check to ensure the edge of the grass is exactly 95 feet from the center of the mound.

• The only exception: Tropicana Field. Because the Rays’ spring training facility is still rebuilding from last year’s hurricane damage, their spring training games will be played in their home ballpark, leaving no time to adjust the landscaping. There, the outfield grass begins 97 feet from the center of the mound.

• Teams can bring an outfielder onto the dirt as a fifth infielder, and he can be positioned anywhere.

• Infielders cannot switch which side of second they’re positioned on during the course of an inning. This is to prevent fielding teams from playing their strongest defenders on whichever side they would've shifted toward.

• Defensive alignments are reviewable under replay, which means the batting team can challenge if they think infielders were illegally positioned.

• The penalty for improperly aligned infielders is an automatic ball. If a pitch is delivered while fielders are positioned illegally and the ball is put in play and the batter gets a hit, it stands. If the ball is put in play and something other than a hit happens (i.e. a sacrifice fly), the batting team can choose whether to accept the outcome of the play or return to the at-bat with the automatic ball.

Pitching deliveries

This is a new one! Or, actually a renewed one.

As we’ve seen in the past (anyone remember the sticky stuff crackdown?) some of baseball’s longstanding written rules have faded as enforcement waned. Among them is a strict definition of balks and legal pitching deliveries. Teams were starting to notice a number of balks going uncalled last year. Now the pitch clock adds an extra level of importance to clean deliveries; the clock stops when a pitcher begins his motion, which means there must be a clear delineation point.

This season, with the bases empty, pitchers working out of the windup are permitted only one step back or to the side at the beginning of their delivery. With runners on base, a pitcher’s delivery begins as soon as he lifts his front foot. In other words, he can’t tap his front foot repeatedly; however, he can sway back and forth while balanced on his back leg, a la Nestor Cortés Jr.

The league communicated to managers and front office staff about pitchers known to have illegal deliveries this offseason, officially at the winter meetings in December, to make them aware that certain pitchers would need to adjust to this rule.

Follow Yahoo Sports' Hannah Keyser on Twitter @HannahRKeyser.