Evaluating the actual impact of the MLB rule changes in 2023
By Bill Felber
The 2023 MLB season debuted with a host of rule changes. One-third of the way through that season, it’s fair to examine the impact, if any, of those changes.
After all, if you’re going to tinker with the fundamentals of how the game is played, there should be some discernible and measurable reason, right? Otherwise, what was the point?
Those rule changes included establishing a clock governing how long a pitcher could hold the ball before delivering it to the plate, and when the batter had to be in the box prepared to hit.
They also included restrictions on where infielders could position themselves in order to best prevent batted balls from becoming hits.
Finally, they included the installation of larger bases and prohibitions on how often a pitcher could throw to a base.
The three underlying rationales, at least as presented by MLB in explaining the rule changes, were to speed up pace of play, to improve offensive opportunities, and to spur baserunning as an offensive strategy.
Over the past decade, league batting averages had fallen by double digits to levels not seen since the pre-DH era more than a half century ago. Attendance had also fallen significantly, from an average of 30,806 per game in 2012 to 26,563 one decade later.
Granted, the lingering impact of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis may have had something to do with that. But even so, it still amounted to a stunning 18 percent decline in on-site attendance.
How are the new MLB rules impacting the game so far?
One third of the way through this first season, the data on the changes’ impact is mixed. One of the rule changes has had a substantial impact on the way the game is presented. But a second has had only a modest impact, while the impact of the third has been barely measurable.