Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred believes that pace of play has been a big issue the last few years, so he has implemented changes such as eliminating the need to throw four pitches for intentional walk.
Manfred drew up some plans for even more changes in 2018, which includes a 20-second pitch clock and limiting the number of times that catchers can visit the mound, but the Players’ Union rejected those proposals.
MLB and the Players’ Union have met on the matter to try to come up with a solution, but so far nothing has come of the meetings.
With the start of Spring Training games just around the corner, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that he expects a decision on what changes will go into effect for the 2018 season to come sooner rather than later, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he expects there to be “some finality” on whether any changes will go into effect for this season before the start of preseason games next week.
“If it does happen, it’s going to happen before games start,” Roberts said. “As I understand it, there’s dialogue and before games start here there will be some finality.”
While Manfred does not need the players’ approval to make changes, a number of them have expressed their disapproval of a pitch clock being implemented.
Among them is Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who believes fans won’t be turned off by the length of games, and that pitchers’ lack of command will combat any intended impact of a pitch clock.
The average time of games increased each of the last two seasons, so the previous initiatives have not been effective, further complicating the matter. The Dodgers’ first Spring Training game is set to take place on Friday, Feb. 23.
