Evidently, the whole time of game "problem" in Major League Baseball is a problem once again. After seeing the average time of games drop to 2:53 early last season, it's up seven minutes, back over the three-hour mark over the first seven weeks of this season. That upward trend has disturbed Commissioner Rob Manfred enough that he's vowed there will be changes.
When Manfred said that, there were a number of possible changes going through people's minds. There's the pitch clock, which they currently use in the Minors, but they assumed, probably correctly, that Major League pitchers wouldn't go for that. Likewise, limiting mound visits or making relievers pitch to more than one batter were both suggested and dismissed.
Instead, the recommendations put forward by MLB's competition committee involve the strike zone and intentional walks. I can get on board with one, but I'm vehemently opposed to the other.
The change with the strike zone isn't that drastic. It basically just redefines bottom of the zone. The current strike zone goes from the chest to the knees. But umpires have been calling the low strike more and more, even though it's technically not a strike. Well, the new interpretation would move that lower portion of the strike zone to the top of the knees.
Basically, they want more balls put in play, and the best way to do that is to make hitters swing at strikes. Right now, that's not the case, which isn't their fault. They think the low pitch is a ball, so they don't swing at it. Then the umpire calls it a strike (even though it isn't), and suddenly they're down 0-1. Now they have to start swinging at crap out of the zone and end up striking out. Adding to their frustration, some umpires then call the high strike and/or the inside/outside pitch.
It's tough to hit when everything is called a strike, whether it's in the zone or not. By making the strike zone smaller, they're making it easier on the hitters. Pitchers probably won't like it, but if a smaller zone results in more swings, that's less pitches they'll have to throw. Ultimately, this shouldn't have that much of an impact. As long as the umpires call it right.
I do have a major problem with the other proposed change, though. Eliminating the intentional walk is a stupid idea. Why is it such a terrible thing that a pitcher has to lob four pitches in the other batter's box when a team decides to intentionally walk somebody? Issuing an intentional walk isn't as simple as the competition committee would like you to believe. It's something that you still need to execute. And telling the batter just to go to first base without having to go through the act of actually pitching isn't the answer.
What can go wrong on an intentional walk, you ask? Well, for starters, there could be a wild pitch or passed ball. When that happens and the runners move up anyway, they might decide to take the intentional walk off. It's like when teams decide to take the sacrifice off with two strikes because the guy can't get the bunt down (or there's a wild pitch/passed ball) and he ends up hitting a double.
Or, they could throw one a little too close to the plate and it gets hit. Think that's far fetched? I've definitely seen it in the Little League World Series, and I'm pretty sure Vladimir Guerrero did it at least once, too. And let's not forget about the intentional walk that only comes about after they throw two balls and the guy on first steals second, so they decide to just put him on since they're already behind in the count.
My point is a lot of stuff can happen in a baseball game. Situations aren't as clear-cut as some people might think. They've been very cognizant of striking a balance between speeding up games without compromising the integrity of them. Getting rid of the intentional walk would do just that. It's as much a strategic element of the game as making a pitching change or dropping down a bunt or when to shift (talk about things in baseball you need to get rid of).
One of the most beautiful things about baseball is the fact there isn't a clock. I, for one, have never found the times of games to be that big of an issue (and I watch the Yankees, who are notorious for playing long games, on a regular basis). It's more pace of game, and it always has been. That's why the endless pitching changes and throws to first and defensive shifts are, in my opinion, a bigger problem than the two intentional walks you might have in a game.
Of course, none of this has been approved yet. It still has to go to the rules committee, and you can bet it'll be discussed during the negotiations for a new CBA in December (although, they don't need the players union's approval to do it). From what it sounds like, though, the Commissioner wants this to happen. So, we'll probably see something change next season. Even though we don't need it.
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