Major League Baseball will conduct several experimental rules in the minor leagues this season

Major League Baseball on Thursday unveiled a litany of experimental rules it plans to implement at various minor league levels this season, including a ban on some form of defensive change, several games governed by an electronic attack zone, a pitch clock 15 seconds, limiting pick-up movements and larger bases.

The rule changes, announced by the league in anticipation of a minor league season that is expected to begin in May, will be studied for potential adoption in the major leagues. The league has made a number of hires, including bringing in former Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein as a consultant, hoping to improve his product on the field.

Each level of the newly built minor leagues, which came under the control of MLB and will go from 162 teams to 120, will have a change in the game. The most radical will be at Double-A, where four fielders will be mandated to have both feet on the dirt inside, preventing the extreme changes that players often see on the left side of the field in the short right field. Depending on the results, the league said, the second half of the season could see a more extreme version of the rule: two players on each side of the base bag.

The league was confused in its explanation for the rule: “These restrictions on defensive positioning are meant to increase the average batting of the balls in play.”

Teams in the low-A Southeast League – formerly the Florida State League – will use ABS (automatic ball hitting system) in “selected games” in the hope of determining the “optimal attack zone for the system.” The electronic system, which was used in the Arizona Fall League and Independent Atlantic League in 2019, will undergo a change: instead of using a three-dimensional area that covers the entire board, it will call balls and punches based on a two-dimensional plane in front of plate.

Another low-A league, the West, will run under a 15-second pitch. MLB and the players’ association have discussed the implementation of a pitch clock and are likely to be part of a wider discussion on the new rules, with the collective agreement expiring on December 1st.

Increasing the offense is definitely part of calculating a low-level rule. A: Players can try a pickoff or drop the tire only twice per bat. If they do it a third time and fail to choose a runner, a balk will be called and the runners at the base will advance. Depending on the results, pickoffs / step-offs could be reduced to one for each aspect of the board.

The new high-A rule is likely to have a demonstrable effect on stolen bases as well: Players must give up rubber before throwing to first base, eliminating a simple move for many left-handed players who have armed the pickoff. MLB implemented the rule in the Atlantic League in the second half of 2019 and saw that stolen base attempts increased by 70%, with an increase in the success rate as well. Although the stolen base has been discouraged by teams, considering it not worth the risk, the new rules are likely to change that.

The final rule is at the highest level, Triple-A: The bases will be three centimeters longer on each side. Currently, the front edge of the first base is 88 feet, 9 inches from the motherboard. It will move 88 feet, 6 inches; the distance between the first and second and the second and third will decrease as well. As a result, MLB said: “a modest impact on the success rate of stolen base attempts and the frequency with which a batter-runner gets to the base on field balls and dull attempts.” MLB also hopes that larger bases will allow fewer injuries to bag collisions.