The first game of the 2024 MLB season is about one month away. However, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres will open up a week before all 28 other major league clubs as they have a series in South Korea on March 20-21. It will be the first MLB regular season game ever played in the country. A week later, on March 28, all teams are slated to play for the 2024 Opening Day.
The series in Seoul is just one of a number of international contests that are scheduled for this MLB season. During spring training, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox will play in the Dominican Republic (March 9-10). The Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies will meet in the Mexico City Series. (April 27-28). The London Series will return from 2023, this year, the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies will play (June 8-9).
There are some other highlights of this season’s schedule to mark on your calendars. There were two planned double headers; Texas Rangers at A’s on May 8, Rockies at San Francisco Giants on July 27. Additionally, there will be a special game played between the Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals in Birmingham, Alabama, at Rickwood Field which is the oldest professional ballpark in the United State and also the former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro League. Some other notable dates are all team plays on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15), Lou Gehrig Day (June 2), the Fourth of July, and Roberto Clemente Day (September 15).
Last season, MLB was hit with a dramatic pace of play changes, mostly due to the addition of pitch clock rules that were implemented and immensely altered the game. With these initial changes of last year, more adjustments are coming in for the 2024 season.
Some rule modifications were announced in December by the MLB. They were approved by the Competition Committee which was created in 2022 and consists of six owners, four players and one umpire. These changes were set to be adopted at the beginning of this year.
After the pitch clock was placed by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last season, the league was changed and the game was noticeably faster. Over the 2023 season, According to USA Today, nine-inning games averaged 2 hours and 39 minutes which is down almost half an hour from the 2022 campaign. This was the shortest game time of any season since 1985.
The changes that are implemented this season will impact the game-speed, specifically on the pitchers end. According to the league, from April to September last season, an average nine-inning game increased by seven minutes. MLB has created solutions to address that.
Timing between pitches: The time on the pitch clock with runners has been reduced from 20 seconds to 18. MLB believes that pitchers began their deliveries with an average of 7.3 seconds remaining on the 20-second timer last season. With that, violations with runners on base were the least frequent. Pitchers will retain the ability to step off the mound two times without penalty to reset, said the league.
Pitching Changes: According to the MLB: “If a new pitcher steps onto the warning track with less than 2:00 remaining on the inning break Clock, the Clock will reset to 2:00 rather than 2:15 as was the case in 2023.” Last season, the inning break that involved a pitching change last season averaged two minutes and 35 seconds.
Warming up pitchers: Pitchers who are set to warm up for an inning must face at least one batter, in addition to any requirements under the three-batter minimum. There were 24 instances in 2023 where roughly three minutes of dead time were added per game because a pitcher who warmed up between innings was replaced before throwing a pitch.
Mound visits: Clubs averaged only 2.3 mound visits in 2023 and 89% of games would not have exceeded a limit of four. So this season, the number of mound visits permitted to each team per game will be reduced from five to four. There will be an extra mound visit given to a club in the ninth inning if the defensive team has zero remaining at the end of the eighth inning.
Circumvention: Per MLB’s announcement, “There will no longer be a requirement for the pitcher to be on the mound, removing the pitcher’s ability to delay the start of the timer by walking around the edge of the mound.” When the pitcher has the ball and play is ready to resume after a dead ball, a fielding coordinator will restart the timer.
All of these new rules and adjustments were released by the MLB in their announcement. They are planned to improve last year’s rule changes by the Competition Committee. However, at its release, the Players Association (MLBPA) was not exactly on board with these modifications and the committee’s player representatives voted against the proposal.
Another change that will occur aside from the pitch clock is the runners lane will be widened. It will include the dirt area between the foul line and the infield grass. This move will make a more direct path towards first base for right-handed hitters. The distance between the foul line and infield grass in all ballparks, with some limited grace periods granted to allow for field modifications, will be 18 to 24 inches. The runner’s lane will still be chalked to ensure runners do not drink too far into foul territory. The league said that from an umpire’s perspective, the simplicity of “dirt good, grass bad,” will make for an easier evaluation tool. MLB says it will allow batters to take a more direct path to first base while protecting from interference.
Similar to last year, there is a lot to look forward to with this upcoming MLB season. There are many new faces on new teams with Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers and Juan Soto on the New York Yankees. Spring training is fully underway with the Grapefruit League in Florida and the Cactus League in Arizona. Teams are playing everyday and we won’t be without baseball until November, thrilling news to all baseball fans. Time is ticking and it’s now March — when the MLB regular season begins!