Buck Showalter addresses new MLB rules: “Everybody better be preparing for what’s coming. Because the learning curve’s gonna be real short in spring”
MLB will look a bit different with the rule changes coming for the 2023 season. It's the first year that the league is implementing a pitch clock, larger bases, and the defensive shift ban. The league is trying to speed up the game, make it safer, and give infielders a chance at making more spectacular plays.
New York Mets manager Buck Showalter wants his players to be 100% ready for the new changes by testing them. He believes this upcoming spring training will be the most important in the history of the league.
“Everybody better be preparing for what’s coming. Because the learning curve’s gonna be real short in spring” said Buck Showalter
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In an article posted by the New York Post, Showalter made this statement at the end of the fourth paragraph. He wants his players to be ready because other teams in the MLB aren't going to wait for them to catch up.
This is shaping up to be quite the spring training this year. Not only do the players have to get used to these rule changes, but the World Baseball Classic is also coming up in March. This will give players playing in the tournament even less time to get ready for the new rules.
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This will be unprecedented for nearly every team this season. The best teams in the league may be the ones who adapt to the new rules the quickest.
How big of an impact will MLB's new pitch clock have?
One of the biggest challenges pitchers will have is adapting to the new pitch clock. Pitchers have 15 seconds to pitch when there are no runners on base and 20 seconds when there are runners on base. There will also be a 30-second timer between the batters.
This may hurt pitchers like Giovanny Gallegos of the St. Louis Cardinals, who is the slowest working pitcher in the league (31.7 seconds). Or Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers, who works at a 29.9-second pace.
They'll have to figure out how to speed up their sequencing before the season starts. Will this make them less effective? It's a question many fans wonder about when it comes to these rule changes.
Given how many pitchers are max-effort guys, they may not have enough energy to throw again in 15 seconds. MLB's new rules heading into next season are interesting, but none more so than the pitch clock.