2019 MLB rule changes: Three batter minimum being tested in minors

One of the proposed 2019 MLB rule changes is being tested in the minors, with an eye towards implementing the rule next year.

The tendency of forward thinkers is to challenge the status quo, to be daring and willing to implement a new idea when they know it’s for the best, even if doing so is scary and difficult to adapt to initially.

The tendency of baseball purists, on the other hand, is to resist any and all tinkering being done to the game they love.

Major League Baseball is caught in the middle.

On Thursday, the MLB and MLBPA announced an agreement that would affect both the Major and Minor Leagues to one degree or another. In addition to possibly shortening inning breaks during big league games by a few seconds (yippee), limiting the amount of mound visits per game per team to five (it was six in 2018) and tweaking a couple of other rules, the most fundamental alteration to baseball for the 2019 season is the testing of the three-batter minimum in the minor leagues. Jayson Stark of The Athletic had it first:

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As Stark said, the plan as of right now is to roll this rule into the big leagues a year from now, barring any unforeseen issues. However, this will not be in combination with an implementation of a pitch clock at the big league level. According to baseball insider Joel Sherman in an episode Thursday of MLB Network’s MLB Tonight, Major League Baseball will not be taking on a pitch clock until 2022 at the earliest. The collective bargaining agreement between baseball and the players association runs out at the end of 2021, and it has already been determined that the pitch clock will not see the field for a regular season or postseason Major League game during that time.

But the three-batter minimum will come into effect in the Majors at the beginning of next season, and in preparation for that, MLB is trying it out in the Minors. MiLB already uses a 20-second pitch clock, as do Major League spring training games. The lower levels have long been the proving grounds for baseball to test out experimental new methods of operation. Why risk experiencing a problem or glitch with a new method at the big league level, when it could first be tried out, analyzed and refined in the Minors?

It is unclear what sort of practical dilemmas the three-batter minimum will present to baseball players, coaches and umpires, but unless these issues are so gigantic and time-consuming as to make it more sensical to scrap the entire project, the switchover of the three-batter minimum rule to the Majors in 2019 will definitely happen. This rule was created for the same reason various other acts and measures have been taken by MLB over the years—with the length of games and pace of play in mind.

Just like what happened when instant replay was first introduced to baseball, the advocates of stagnation in the way baseball is played will not be happy when the three-batter minimum hits the Bigs. But as time goes by and the purists begin to see the positives of adopting such a rule—namely, the latter innings of a ballgame won’t drag on quite as long with managers being forced to change pitchers less often—they will slowly but surely embrace the new reality of the game. It is extremely important to keep in mind that those coming up with these rules at MLB headquarters are not the enemy; they all love baseball just as much as the fans, and many of them even played and excelled at the big league level. These people would never seek to set into motion a law that ruined the game they love. Rest assured, the fate of the game is in trustworthy hands.

So now, simply sit back and enjoy baseball, in whatever form it currently takes. Whether the imminent implementation of the three-batter minimum excites you or makes you roll your eyes and yearn for the good old days, don’t take any of this too seriously. It’s a cliche and has been repeated a million times, but it bears repeating once more: baseball is a game, and it’s meant to be fun! Have fun with it!