SI:AM | MLB’s New Rules

Plus, why Aaron Judge could be even better this season.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. You should pay closer attention to spring training games this year.

In today’s SI:AM:

⏲️ A whole new ball game

🌑 Aaron Rodgers emerges from the darkness

⚾ Aaron Judge’s encore

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What’s new in baseball this year

Baseball is back! Well, sort of. Spring training games start today with three matchups (Rangers vs. Royals, Padres vs. Mariners and Red Sox vs. Northeastern University), and the first nationally televised games will air on MLB Network tomorrow and Sunday. (ESPN’s first spring training broadcast is Monday.) If you’re tuning in, you’ll notice the game looks slightly different from the way it did last year. The league made a few rule changes aimed at improving the on-field product. Let’s break them down.

The pitch clock

This is perhaps the biggest change being instituted this season. With the bases empty, pitchers will have 15 seconds from the time the catcher returns the ball to them to begin their motion to throw their next pitch. With runners on, the time is increased to 20 seconds. Batters have to be in the box ready for the pitch within eight seconds of the clock starting. If the pitcher is late, the umpire adds an automatic ball to the count. If the batter is late, it’s an automatic strike.

The rule also limits hitters to one timeout per plate appearance and allows pitchers to step off the rubber (at which point the clock resets) twice per plate appearance. That amounts to a limit on the number of pickoff attempts a pitcher can make, which will hinder pitchers’ ability to prevent stolen bases. Making a second pickoff attempt will be extremely risky. If the pitcher is unsuccessful on his second attempt, the runner can be pretty sure he won’t throw over again and can increase his lead accordingly. You’re able to make a third pickoff attempt, but if you don’t get the runner out, it’s a balk and they advance automatically. The overarching goal of this batch of rule changes is to inject more action into the game, and, at least in this aspect, it looks like it’ll be successful.

Fans should appreciate how the rule will whittle away at the dead time in game, but some players aren’t exactly thrilled about it. It’ll take some getting used to, and we’re likely to see many pitch clock violations in early spring training games. MLB’s data from when the pitch clock was introduced in the minor leagues shows that players adjusted to the new rules quickly.

Limits on defensive shifts

The new rules governing defensive positioning have been casually referred to as “banning the shift,” but that’s not quite accurate. The rule requires that teams have two defenders positioned on either side of second base, all on the infield dirt. Teams can still position their second baseman halfway between first and second while putting the shortstop directly behind the second base bag. It’s not as extreme a shift as we’ve seen in recent years, but the idea is similar. The rules also don’t prevent, for example, taking your left fielder and putting him in shallow right the way second basemen were often deployed in shifted defenses if teams want to get creative.

Bigger bases

This is a minor and boring one, to be honest. Beginning this year, the bases will be 18-inch squares, up from 15 inches. MLB’s press release touted the distance between bases will be decreased by 4.5 inches, “thereby encouraging offensive Clubs to attempt to steal bases more frequently and generally to be more aggressive on the basepaths.” I’m not buying that moving the bags slightly closer together will have a noticeable effect on steals, but the league also believes that the larger bases will decrease injuries, which is more plausible. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said the new bases looked like a pizza box, but viewers at home will likely adjust quickly to the change.

Schedule changes

The last adjustment is to the schedule. Starting this year, teams will play all 29 other teams in the majors at least once per year. The increase in interleague games comes with a reduction in the number of division games. Instead of playing 19 games against each of the teams in your division, teams will face division opponents 13 times. The idea is to make playoff races more fair by leveling out the strength of teams’ schedules. The league is also billing it as fan friendly, since each team will visit each city every other year.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

• Conor Orr argues it’s time for the NFL to smarten up and give Eric Bieniemy the head coaching opportunity he’s earned, regardless of how his first season in Washington goes.
• Aaron Rodgers was widely mocked for his darkness retreat, but Michael Rosenberg believes he should be celebrated for it.
• Kevin Hanson reveals his top 100 NFL draft prospects.
• Tom Verducci explains why Aaron Judge’s approach at the plate means he could be even better this season than he was last year.
• Elizabeth Swinton takes stock of where the NBA’s awards races stand as the season gets back underway.
• Jeff Bezos has reportedly hired a firm to explore the possibility of buying the Commanders.
• Lamar Jackson is reportedly seeking more guaranteed money than Deshaun Watson.
• A motorist who helped a police officer clear a downed tree from a road in Ann Arbor turned out to be Jim Harbaugh.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Wendell Carter Jr.’s game-winning tip-in for the Magic.

4. Connor McDavid’s power play goal from an impossible angle.

3. Kevin Harlan’s call of the frantic final moments of Sixers-Grizzlies.

2. Joel Embiid’s unreal block on Ja Morant seconds earlier.

1. Victor Wembanyama’s highlight reel (22 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks and four steals) from France’s World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic.

SIQ

On this day in 2018, Ester Ledecká became the first woman to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics. Which two sports did she compete in?

• Alpine skiing and snowboarding
• Hockey and speedskating
• Curling and ski jumping
• Skeleton and luge

Yesterday’s SIQ: Longtime Bears defensive back Charles “Peanut” Tillman found an interesting new career after retiring from the NFL. What is his job now?

• Firefighter
• FBI agent
• Actor
• Chef

Answer: FBI agent. He retired after the 2015 season following a 13-year career in the NFL and graduated from the FBI academy in ’18.

Details on his time in the Bureau are obviously limited, but a Chicago rapper named Lil Reese said last year that Tillman was one of the agents who raided his house in May 2018. Reese (real name Tavares Taylor) was sentenced to one year of probation after agents found more than $2,000 worth of marijuana in his house.

Prospective Bureau agents have until they turn 37 to earn their badges, and Tillman, who majored in criminal justice at Louisiana-Lafayette, graduated from the FBI’s 20-week training course just in time.

Tillman, known as a turnover machine during his time in football, appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2021. He owns Bears franchise records for defensive touchdowns (nine), interception return touchdowns (eight) and interception return yards (675). If he gets the call to go to Canton, that gold jacket would look pretty good with a gold badge in the breast pocket.