Hoyer favors changes: Rules not 'written on stone tablets' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Cubs president Jed Hoyer deferred to his predecessor when asked about potential consequences of Major League Baseball moving back the pitcher’s mound.
“I’ll let Theo [Epstein] talk about that more,” Hoyer quipped of his good friend and former Cubs president now working as a consultant to MLB.
But what Hoyer did make clear is baseball needs to do something to get more action and offense in the game.
MLB announced on Wednesday they’re again experimenting potential rule changes in the Atlantic League. In the second half this season, the pitcher’s mound in those games will be moved back a foot, to 61 feet, 6 inches.
“We expect to learn a great deal about the impacts of such a change and whether an adjustment to this critical field dimension is worth potential future consideration at other levels of professional baseball,” Epstein said in a press release.
MLB has determined the reaction time on a 93.3 mph fastball — the average fastball velocity in 2020 — thrown from 61 feet, 6 inches, is equivalent to a 91.6 mph fastball thrown from 60 feet, 6 inches.
MLB’s expectation is that by moving the mound back a foot, hitters will have more time to react to pitches, and therefore make more contact.
“You got a whole foot of extra space to kind of size up the movement as a hitter,” Cubs manager David Ross said of the potential change. “That would definitely be an advantage, and the pitching will definitely have to adjust for sure.”
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It’s well-documented the number of balls has decreased over the past decade. Hitters collectively tallied more strikeouts than hits in each of the past three seasons, 2018 representing the first time in MLB history.
In 2018, there were 189 more strikeouts than hits. In 2019, MLB’s last full season, it spiked to 784 more strikeouts.
“We've got to do something to get more offense in the game,” Hoyer said.
The average fastball velocity has also increased each season since 2010 (staying stagnant from 2017-18), when it stood at 91.2 mph, according to FanGraphs. In 2020, the average was 93.4.
The number of strikeouts jumped massively over that same stretch, from 34,306 in 2010 to 42,823 in 2019. You get the picture.
Moving the mound back is entirely in the experimental stage at this point, but MLB has previously implemented rules they first tested out in the Atlantic League. In 2019, they tried out the three-batter minimum rule, bringing it to the big leagues in 2020.
There’s also historical context with MLB altering the mound. They dropped the height from 15 inches in 1968 to 10 in 1969.
Hitters' collective batting average jumped from .237 to .248 from 1968-69
“Obviously, I love baseball, but I don't believe that the rules are written on stone tablets,” Hoyer said. “We have to be willing to make adjustments as players change.”
Whether it’s moving the mound back, implementing rules to limit defensive shifting or something else, the league needs to do something to spur more contact and cut down the number of strikeouts, Hoyer said.
“Theo talks about it really well,” he added. “We need the ball in play more. It’s simple as that. The pitchers have every advantage right now.”
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