MLB Plans to Test Unique Extra-Inning Rule in Minor Leagues
By Keaton Moore
If you have been around baseball long enough, you understand it’s not a short game. Yet, the minor leagues plan to implement a revolutionary rule to decrease the number of extra innings being played.
In commissioner Rob Manfred’s quest to improve the pace of baseball, the minor leagues have become the guinea pig to test his ideas on. The newest of his inventive strategies involves starting each extra inning with a man on second base.
“Our goal is to make sure that our product is as tight and compelling as possible,” Manfed said (per bleacherreport.com). “So what we’re focused on is elimination points of delay in the game, where there’s no action. It doesn’t affect the outcome of the game. Where we can move the game a little quicker.”
Last season, the average three-hour length of ballgames came dangerously close to breaking the high. In 2014, the average baseball game reached three hours and eight minutes, including an 18-inning postseason battle between the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals.
According to Yahoo Sports, the minor leagues intend to implement this rule in the Gulf Coast and Arizona Leagues. While this rule might catch baseball fans off guard, internationally it is not a completely unheard of concept. In fact, after using it in 2009, the 2017 World Baseball Classic will apply this rule during their upcoming tournament.
When used internationally, the rule drastically increased the chances of scoring during extra innings. With an empty inning without any outs, the batting team’s chances of scoring are 25.9 percent. However, with a man on second with no outs, as the rule allows, the batting team is 61.7 percent more likely to score one or more runs.
Given the significant difference this rule made outside the United States, Manfred must be seriously intrigued. As for implementing it into the minor leagues, Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre is on board.
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“Let’s see what it looks like,” Torre said (per bleacherreport.com). “It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch. As much as it’s nice to talk about being at an 18-inning game, it takes time.”