MLB News & Notes (other than Cubs or Sox)

[rok]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rok" data-cid="328331" data-time="1519066929">
Pace of play initiatives being implemented in 2018 include limiting mound visits to 6 per 9 inning game and 1 per extra inning. Pitch clock postponed until 2019 (and hopefully never).https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-announces-p...-266718664

 

How is Willson going to handle this news?</blockquote>


He has spoken.

https://twitter.com/sahadevsharma/status...7832211457

[jstraw]

So, what the fuck is the rule? Who's limited, players or managers/coaches?

[Kid]

Both.  It's 6 visits by anybody.  What's not clear is what happens if, for example, a catcher goes to the mound if his team is out of visits.

[jstraw]

Does the infield gathering to set the defense count? That would be fucking stupid. Manfred can go to fuck. I blame Ryan Braun's gloves for all of this.

[Bricklayer]

The elephant in the room here is commercial breaks. 

 

If they can convince advertisers to come up with in game ads, like pay for an inning with your logo on the score box or a crawl or whatever, and cut the time between innings to under 2mins, that would greatly improve "pace of play"

 

As annoying as it is to have to see that, at least the game isn't fucked with.  Plus, most people are more likely to change the channel during the commercials anyway, this way advertisers will get more people to see the ad while the game is being played.

[Kid]

My guess is that's not likely because my understanding is the reason sports rights fees have been so high is that sports are the one thing that people still watch live, meaning they sit through the commercials (some may flip but that's always been the case).  All other forms of TV people watch recorded or online and don't sit through commercials.

[jstraw]

The elephant in the room is the time between pitches during normal play. The research has been presented numerous times in numerous ways. Attacking any other perceived cause for extended game durations or slower "pace of play" (whatever the hell that even means) is to tiptoe around asking the players to get on with the fucking game. Batters out of the box and pitchers off the mound is the problem...if there indeed is a problem.

[VanSlawAndCottoCheese]

if there indeed is a problem.

 

 

Or, if there is a solution to the perceived problem.

 

I have a hard time believing a pitch clock will bring in younger fans in any meaningful numbers.

[Butcher]

I assume there is market research showing that the baseball fan demographic is trending older? Is this really a massive issue? And do they think making the game 15 minutes shorter is going to solve this issue?

[rok]

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/966413625480089601

[Kid]

Yes, but as I understand it, that's after the 6 are used.  If there's a cross-up before the 6 are used and the catcher wants to go to the mound, I think it counts.

[Butcher]

But what happens if you violate the rule? That's unclear to me.

[Kid]

I think that's unclear to everybody.

[Butcher]

I expect Willson to keep making 25+ mound visits a game.

[rok]

I want so badly for Molina to cause the first automatic pitching change.