Major League Baseball has enjoyed a fair bump in viewership in recent seasons, seeing a sizable boost behind the implementation of a pitch clock and other rules to increase the speed and action of the game.
Changes to the size of bases, pickoffs and defensive shift limits, and the three-batter minimum for pitchers were aimed at increasing offense while decreasing the natural down-time in baseball. Attendance this past season reached north of 71 million.
Amid the success, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred referenced a “golden at-bat” rule, which would allow teams one opportunity per game to pick one at-bat to slot in any hitter of their choosing. Initial reaction to the potential rule change was overwhelmingly negative.
Manfred addressed the pushback and deemed a golden at-bat rule far away from actually coming to MLB, if it ever does, per Jesse Rodgers of ESPN:
“To go from the conversation stage to this actually showing up in MLB is a very long road, Manfred told the Yes Network on Thursday. “You don’t like the idea? I wouldn’t be too concerned about it right now.”
Manfred did note the talk surrounding the idea was a very premature thought. There hasn’t been any concrete plans to put it into action and it was more just from conversations about potential new ways to improve the game:
“It was a very preliminary conversation which did create some buzz,” Manfred reiterated on Thursday. “I do encourage the owners to have conversations about the game.”
The progressive changes Manfred and MLB have made were terrific additions, each having their own boost to steals, run scoring and eyes on the game.
MLB isn’t likely to implement a new rule that has a score of negative feedback in early stages as they’ve been calculated in their approach.
Future changes coming to MLB?
Of Manfred’s implementations yet to come, the primary one is the automated ball strike system to aid umpires in calling balls and strikes. The ABS system has been used in Minor League Baseball for a few seasons, having mostly positive results with some issues to still work out.
MLB will use the ABS system in Spring Training, giving it its first taste in the Majors. From there, the system could be brought to MLB sooner rather than later.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
