Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Revisiting the pace of game rule changes

(I tried finding a photo with the timer in the shot but it was a no-go.)

The other big rule change in 2016 was pace of game. As this article explains:

Visits to the mound by managers and coaches -- which previously had no time limit -- will be limited to 30 seconds and between-inning break times will now match the commercial time: 2 minutes, 5 seconds for local broadcasts and 2 minutes, 25 seconds for nationally televised games. The break times were 20 seconds longer last season, but the change is expected to allow the resumption of play to more closely match the end of the breaks.
The timer for mound visits will be the same in-stadium clock that measures the between-inning breaks. The timer will be set at 30 seconds and will begin counting down when the manager or coach has exited the dugout and the timeout for a mound visit has been granted by the Umpire. Unless the manager (or coach) signals for a pitching change, he must leave the mound when (or before) the timer reaches "0" (zero) seconds.
We know we missed a bunch of plays at the top of the inning because of late commercial breaks. Did it seem like the mound visits were shorter? Didn't feel that way to me.