Ian Happ, Cubs Weigh in on MLB's Significant Rule Changes

Cubs brace for significant rule changes — good and bad originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

With Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski at the plate in the second inning Friday, the Cubs deployed this defensive alignment:

Seeing shortstop Nico Hoerner standing that deep in the outfield grass is nothing new. The Cubs regularly position him there against left-handed hitters.

Get a good look at it over the next few weeks. Starting next season, it will be gone.

Major League Baseball approved a series of big rule changes Friday that will go into effect starting next season.

•    A pitch clock (15 seconds with the bases empty, 20 seconds with runners on)
•    Defensive shift restrictions
•    Bases increased from 15 to 18 inches square.

The four players union representatives on the 11-person competition committee voted against the clock and shift rules.

Said Ian Happ, the Cubs’ union rep: “The players’ point of view was that we would rather move slowly and make sure the game looks the way the game looks now and keep making changes if we needed to in a stricter direction — as opposed to going all the way strict and then working backwards from there.”

The rules are certainly strict — and significant. MLB hopes they will increase pace of place and add more action to the game, both focal points for the league as average time of games continues to rise while offense decreases.

According to MLB, the pitch clock reduced the average nine-inning minor-league game by 26 minutes, to 2:38 in 2022.

“From everything I've heard, there's been a great increase in how the game is played,” manager David Ross said. “The contact, the athleticism, the pace of the game.

"I haven't heard one negative thing about it from the things I've heard about the pitch clock. Looking forward to that being implemented. I think it's gonna be a good thing, and there will be some adjustment period like there always is, but I think that's fine.”

Pitch clock

There are several rules within the pitch clock rule. If the timer expires and no pitch has been thrown, umpires will call an automatic ball.

Batters must be in the box and alert with at least eight seconds on the clock. If not, it’s an automatic strike. They also only receive once timeout per plate appearance.

“The pitch clock, I think that's gonna be interesting, just because there's so many people that have been pitching this game for such a long time,” Cubs starter Justin Steele said. “They’ve been doing it the way they do it for so long.

“I think baseball is great as it is because there's not a clock. Every other sport does have a clock. In baseball, you could be there all day, technically. 

“That's kind of the beautiful thing about it. It could be a two-hour game; it could be a four-hour game.”

Pitchers will be limited to two “disengagements” per plate appearance — i.e. stepoffs and pickoffs. They can make further pickoff attempts, but if they are unsuccessful, a balk will be called.

The number of disengagements resets if the runner advances.

“If you pick over twice and you don’t get him, there’s no sense in picking over the third time,” Steele said. “But he’s probably going to steal because he knows.”

Shift ban

Teams will be required to position two defenders on each side of second base, and players cannot swap sides unless there is a substitution. All four players must be positioned on the infield dirt.

If a team is found in violation, the batting team can accept an automatic ball, or the outcome of a play.

Happ said players were concerned about having to be positioned on the dirt, even if they had two defenders on each side of the bag.

“I played second base once upon a time,” Happ said. “My pre-pitch started in the grass, and then I got to the dirt. 

“So now if you're telling me I have to have both feet on the dirt, how does that change my pre-pitch? Do I have to now learn a different way to get ready for ground balls?”

Hoerner has made highlight reel plays in shallow right field in a shift on countless occasions. But from an offensive standpoint, there are clear benefits to the rule.

Left-handed hitters will be rewarded on well-struck balls into the 3-4 hole that often are absorbed by the shift. There will be more chances for balls to get through up the middle.

“Those things going away, I think it's going to be a more visually appealing game," Happ said. “You're gonna have a guy like [Kyle] Schwarber and [Anthony] Rizzo that smashed the ball on the right side, 115 miles an hour. Those are going to be hits again. Those should be hits. 

“That's a more appealing game than a guy smashing a ball and it looks like nothing because the guy in right field eats it up.”

Bigger bases will help reduce collisions on the base paths and incentivize stealing bases, MLB said. They’ll reduce the distance between first and second base and second and third by 4.5 inches.

The changes could look jarring at first and obviously will take time for players to get used to. But this isn’t the first time MLB players have had to adjust to new rules, nor will it be the last.

“I think there's an adjustment period for all of it, but players do a really nice job of adjusting to the new stuff,” Ross said. “There may be some bitching and moaning for a minute, right? It's what we do. 

“I was the same player. I complained about it, and then I went out and tried to compete underneath the rules. We'll have to find strategies within that and think through how teams might take advantage of that and how we might take advantage of that and be ready to adjust.

“There's really good athletes out there, really good competitors, and they'll find a way to compete and figure out a way to handle every rule that's in place.”

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