Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark and Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz, the Chairman of Major League Baseball’s Pace of Game and Instant Replay Committees, today jointly announced additions to baseball’s pace of game program.
The new rules will address four key areas:
1. Managers must stay in the dugout during replay challenges.
2. Hitters must keep at least one foot in the batter’s box during at-bats.
3. The game must promptly return to play after TV commercial breaks.
4. Timed pitching changes. Relief pitchers will have 2 minutes, 30 seconds to get from the bullpen to the mound, throw warm-up pitches and throw their first pitch to the next batter.
The league established a pace-of-game committee in September aimed at making recommendations to speed up games, which grew to a record average of 3 hours, 2 minutes in 2014, up from 2:33 in 1981.
Players who violate the rules will receive a warning, then be subject to a series of fines up to $500.
The rules will begin in spring training, but the warnings and fines will not be imposed until May, as spring training and the first month of the regular season will be a phase-in period.
A statement by Commissioner Rob Manfred said:
“These changes represent a step forward in our efforts to streamline the pace of play. The most fundamental starting point for improving the pace of the average game involves getting into and out of breaks seamlessly. In addition, the batter’s box rule will help speed up a basic action of the game.”
