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MLB approves new rules changes for 2024 season

robert sanchez
·4 min read
10

After several meetings and discussions throughout the offseason between MLB’s Competition Committee and additional conversations with general managers, field managers and the executive council of the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA), the league has announced new rules changes for the 2024 season.

Among the modifications, some of the most impactful are in relation to pace of play and affect pitchers the most, including an 18-second pitch clock with runners on (down from 20 seconds). Also, if a pitcher warms up, he now must face at least one hitter.

Other big changes include a wider runner's lane from home plate to first base and lowering the amount of mound visits from five to four.

Below are all of the rules adjustments that were approved in their entirety:

- Runner’s Lane: The Runner’s Lane will be widened to include the dirt area between the foul line and the infield grass. Widening the lane allows batters to take a more direct path to first base while retaining protection from interference. The distance between the foul line and the infield grass will be between 18 and 24 inches in all parks, with some limited grace periods granted by MLB due to difficulty in modifying the field (e.g., synthetic turf field).

- Pace Of Game: MLB proposed minor changes to the Pace of Game Regulations to address an increase in game time as the season progressed – the average nine-inning game time increased seven minutes from April to September (five minutes after controlling for the number of pitches, breaks, and runs scored).

  • Timing Between Pitches: Reduce time from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Pitchers began their deliveries with an average of 7.3 seconds remaining on the 20-second timer in 2023. Pitchers retain the ability to step off and reset the clock up to two times without penalty. Violations with runners on base were the least frequent (14 percent of all violations vs 32 percent of all pitches) in 2023. A universal 17-second clock used for the final month of the Triple-A season did not increase violations with runners on base.

  • Batter Timeouts: Based on player feedback, MLB withdrew a proposal that would have required the home plate umpire to immediately reset the pitch clock after a batter called timeout.

  • Pitching Changes: If a new pitcher steps onto the warning track with less than 2:00 remaining on the inning break clock, the clock will reset to 2:00 rather than 2:15 as was the case in 2023. Inning breaks that contained a pitching change averaged 2 minutes and 35 seconds in 2023 (broadcasters are only guaranteed two minutes of commercial time).

  • Mound Visits: Mound visits will be reduced from five per game to four, and an extra mound visit will still be awarded for the ninth inning if the defensive team has zero remaining at the end of the eighth inning. Mound visits rank among the fans’ least favorite events in baseball. Clubs averaged only 2.3 mound visits per game in 2023. Last season, 98 percent of games would not have exceeded a limit of four mound visits. Umpires will also permit defensive players to signal for a mound visit without actually visiting the mound to further help improve pace of game.

  • Circumvention: The FTC will now restart the timer after a dead ball (e.g., foul ball) when the pitcher has the ball and play is ready to resume. There will no longer be a requirement for the pitcher to be on the mound, removing the pitcher’s ability to delay the start of the timer by walking around the edge of the mound.

  • Pitcher Who Warms Up Must Face At Least One Hitter: A pitcher who is sent out to warm up for an inning must face at least one batter (in addition to any requirements under the Three-Batter Minimum rule). There were 24 instances this season where the pitcher that warmed up between innings was replaced before throwing a pitch (adding approximately three minutes of dead time per event). There were two such instances during the 2023 World Series.

MLB’s Competition Committee is composed of six owners, four players and one umpire and was created as a part of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in 2022.

The new rules will be in effect immediately, starting in spring training and all through the postseason and were based on feedback from MLBUA and MLBPA representatives.