The Impact of the New Major League Baseball Rules Through 32 Games

Major League Baseball instituted three new rule changes for this season: The pitch clock, bigger bases and shift limitations. We take a look at the impact of the rule changes through the first 32 games of this season compared to a season ago.

Major League Baseball instituted three new rules for the 2023 season and all three rule changes appear to be yielding a more enjoyable product on the field. 

After years of experimenting with these rule changes at the minor league level, the league put in a pitch clock, bigger bases and limited the ability for the defense to shift.

The results are as follows, compiled by the popular baseball account @BaseballDoesnt:

"First 32 days of MLB rule changes compared to the first 32 days of 2022... 

Runs are up 14% 

Hits are up 9% 

AVG. is up 15 points 

Steals are up 54% 

Games are 27 minutes shorter"

First 32 days of MLB rule changes compared to the first 32 days of 2022...

Runs are up 14%
Hits are up 9%
AVG. is up 15 points
Steals are up 54%
Games are 27 minutes shorter pic.twitter.com/Mh8fIiO5EL

— Baseball Doesn't Exist (@BaseballDoesnt) May 3, 2023

As a baseball fan, those numbers just reinforce what we've thought all along: that the new version of baseball is a more enjoyable product.

To me, the problem was never about the length of the game, it was about the lack of action in the game. Baseball has found a way to introduce action and reduce the length of the game, that's a win for everybody involved.

The increased traffic on the basepaths has allowed offense to not be suppressed and the new shift change rules have allowed more balls to be hits that should be hits.

Furthermore, defensively, we're able to see players use their athleticism more now, which is certainly a welcome change from the last several years.

The pitch clock hasn't been the issue that we expected it to be early on this season. I remember reading stories about how drastic the change would be and how many issues it would cause early on, and how many games would be decided on walk-off violations, and it just hasn't happened yet.

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