New Baseball Rules

The Mets have a "soft schedule" this month against a lot of bottom feeders. The schedule is not starting that well. They lost a Nats series though they won two out of three (bare minimum) versus the Pirates. Scherzer is hurt (tired arm), so basically there are two reliable starters (deGrom and Bassitt). Peterson is sketchy and the other two, who were great in the first half, are struggling too. 

Peterson didn't last too long and the Mets recent offensive woes led to the opening of the Marlins series to be a loss. The net result of all of this is that the Mets -- first time in April -- dropped into second place (by a half game) basically since the Braves do not want to lose. This includes last night against Seattle, which is a likely wild card team. The Mets want to be in first place, to get the new bye.  It might turn on the Braves series.

One sketchy thing is that Buck (it is never noted he has that nickname because he liked to be buck naked as a player) keeps on relying on B level relievers when the Mets are only behind a bit. The relievers keep on giving up runs, thus putting the games out of reach. Past activity suggests that a one run deficit is not impossible. Three or more? Much harder.

ETA: A few bad games, injuries, and some players struggling some, but the weekend suggests it is a bit too early to panic. Bad teams, and there will be some more games there, help. Both Cookie and Walker had good games with the Mets offense feasting off bad Marlins pitching too. 

And, Seattle actually won the series versus the Braves, so the Mets gained a half game, after not being in first place for part of a whole day!  It took a come from behind win for Seattle to do it though with them giving up five runs in the 9th today. 

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As some Mets fans sweat, new rules were agreed to in baseball. Recent years led to various changes. The most blatant might be the dubious end of the DH in the NL.  There is the "three batter rule," which made the putting a pitcher in to get one batter (including the amusing LOOGY) much harder. I'm not that upset about that sort of thing. Adds to strategy.

COVID brought the seven inning double header and the "ghost runner" in the 10th.  For whatever reason, the baseball players like this concept, and it seems like we are stuck with it.  I don't think it is overly a matter of too much concern. How often do we even have OT?  I personally think it is fine (and fun) to have a few long games.  Again, it rarely happens. The impatience to have this new rule in the 10th is a bit asinine though.

(The seven inning double header went by the wayside.  I was okay with it myself.  It twists records some and all, but it didn't bother me too much. Again, how often do we have double headers anyway?)

The big concern these days is pace of the game. The new rule changes now will try to limit pitchers and batters some more  I have seen talk this things might shave twenty minutes off the game (so a minute a half inning?) and it simply is not something I care about.  Who actually watches a whole game on television these days anyway?  Some people like the idea, including adding to the crispness of the game. I think commercials and increased use of pen are major reasons the games got longer.  

A more "okay, fine, who really cares" move is to make the bases a bit bigger. It is partially done for safety reasons.  If it makes things a bit safer, okay, who cares.  The other reason is to encourage stealing.  This will also be done by a new rule limiting throws over to first base.  I'm not horrified by the rule.  It does seem pretty stupid.  Who cares?  It very well might help a few skilled base stealers.  How much? We shall see.

A few pitchers (and batters) waste time. Some batters, for instance, have a bunch of tics they use to make the at bat longer. A few pitchers are human rain delays.  But, from what I can tell, it is not something that makes much of a difference.  Some people do care apparently.

Another change that is in my view asinine but really doesn't matter much is tweaks on how you can shift.  A few people find shifts quite bothersome. Why is unclear.  Baseball over the years have made pitching, batting, and strategy more and more specialized.  The way to go is to answer strategy with strategy.  There are ways to "beat the shift."  Why is this something to worry about?  But, besides being stupid on principle, it is unclear to me how much it actually will change the game.  

How about women umpires?  

ETA: A quick update. The "ghost runner" and  the "three batter rule" (which I again am really fine with) rules might change. 

If you want to shorten games, requiring pitchers to face more than one batter is one way to help do it.  I actually heard something once that the DH does not lengthen the game. That is somewhat counterintuitive.  I think it is a bad thing to have in the NL at any rate.  We don't need more offense.  Not that the current DH slots for the Mets are doing much.