MLB Agrees to Pitch Clock, Larger Bases in Bid to Energize Sport
- Changes to boost the speed of games will take effect in 2023
- New rules to ban defensive shifts, stop short of ‘robot umps’
Photographer: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Major League Baseball will have a pitch clock and ban defensive shifts starting next year, part of sweeping changes aimed at energizing the sport known as America’s pastime.
MLB will also increase base sizes by three inches in an effort to reduce injuries and increase stolen base attempts, it said Friday. An 11-person committee recommended the changes.