Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - The Pitch Clock Has Been Shortened | 767

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Use code TALKIN for $20 off your first SeatGeek order. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKINGo to https://usejoymode.com/TALKIN and get 20% off with code TALKIN at checkout.Get your ticket to Talkin’ Yanks Live w/ Aaron Boone here! https://shop.jomboymedia.com/products/talkin-yanks-live-w-aaron-boone?variant=++++++++Timestamps:0:00 Baby Claire Crawled Today1:35 Warehouse Tourney Coming Up4:20 Rules Committee6:10 Pace of Play and the Pitch Clock19:15 Mound Visits26:30 Batter Faced Minimums37:30 Baserunning Lane44:50 Some Rules They're Thinking About Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to talking baseball. We've got some updated rules, little ones and big ones. We're going to chat all about it. Let's see. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Thank you very much for joining us today. It's brought to you by Seatgeek. Code Talking can help you out over there.

My name is Jimmy. Sit next to Jake. Trevor is in California and BBD joining us behind the dish producing his butt away. Ooh, Trev drinking from a green mug wearing a green hoodie. That's a nice mug. I like that. I have a Migos Lodge mug that's very similar to that where our friend Nick got. Married.

Jake's wearing his scientist glasses today. Jake, how you doing? Blue light glasses, Jim. Protect your eyes, people. Trev has his all-star unit going on. Jimmy and some blues. It makes those eyes pop, baby. That's how we got Katie.

Now there's two fucking kids. Oh, Claire crawled today. Woo! On the move. She's crawling to those. new rules we're talking about. I'm doing good. We've got a big couple days coming up.

Some blood and tears are about to be shed in the warehouse, which just changes the whole office dynamic. Some alphas get made in the warehouse floor. Trev, you know all about that, my man. And you're a rules guy. How many hidden ball tricks did you pull off? I just picked your runner off at second base. I saw that.

You took the bat out of my hand, bro. God, I'm BPD. Speaking of Alphas in the warehouse, BBD's on this show. My guy. Look, yeah, I do have my All-Star kit on. I'm excited to talk about some of these rules because once we get into it,

I think people are going to realize baseball's been in gray areas for like a hundred years. So I think we're trying to, like, crack down on that a little bit, although I think we're still going to get some gray. Speaking of gray, James. Oh, Fred. I didn't do my beard. this morning. I got to do my hair.

Damn. Fuck. It's tough. My hair's so gray. It's crazy. Sometimes you just got to call in it. We're all grayed, dude. I'm gray too. Don't be ashamed of it. My friend used to say, life's rough, bro. It's wisdom.

If my hair wasn't gray in the pattern, it's gray, I wouldn't care. Like the top needs to just be gray. Or the bottom is gray. That I don't like that much. And it's easy to I like it. The hair is male patterned graying. So it's just like it looks like I have a toupee on top.

Maybe shave the gray chin off and put that on top. This is stark white. Like there's dye left in this. If I go like during paternity, I went like four weeks and it's like my chin's white. It's nuts. You know like when you see pictures of like Obama before office, Obama after office is like James before his job media took off now James. The hair was always grained.

The beer, it took a big. It took a leap. It took a big leap. I just tweeted out because it was comedy. It was comedy, he said, said the ancient Greeks. You know, in my YouTube recommended videos, the nationals are world series champs talking baseball popped up. No, Trevor Plouf.

Better times, people were saying. And yeah, Jimmy's got a little pre-president there. I've got a little pre-president there. So, yeah. Yeah, but I was way bigger then. That's the better thing. Your face also would, you know, sometimes your own teeth would attack your face. Yeah, yeah.

No, that's just up 40 pounds from where I'm at now. Or 35, which is crazy. Bummer. Look at that's peanut butter balls used to make. Pistachios. I love peanut butter. Still does. I love peanut butter.

All right, so off season, they change the rules. Here's some info on how the rules get changed Just to get you guys ready for it There's an MLB There's MLB committee members There's 11 members Six owners, four players And one umpire

The owners on the committee are John Stanton From Seattle Bill DeWitt Junior From St. Louis Greg Johnson from San Francisco Dick Monfort from Colorado I think he shows up.

Tom Werner from Boston and Mark Shapiro from Toronto. On the player committee, some friends of the program. Jack Flaherty, Tyler Glassnow, Whitmerfield, who's a free agent currently,

and Austin Slater. Stole your nickname. A lot of guys with new team. Austin Slater is a great name. Alternate committee members, Ian Hap and Walker Bueller. We basically are the only one we don't have a connection to.

I'll connect right now I'll connect right now What's your IG, Aust? Probably like Slater Dog AC Slater Dog Yeah, that's Slater Dog I think Austin underscore Slater 53

He's nice and out He's such a kid bully A C Slater Dog Slater Dog He should say that after it's a homer Just followed Let's see, we both follow Gabe Kapler

Okay Tyler Austin Obviously MLBPA and Xavier Scruggs. There you go. What's not back? Shout out.

So. So, so. So that is how the committee is made. Oh, the umpire is Bill Miller. Love it. I like that. Yeah.

I like that. Old school. Straightforward. Willie Millie. We're talking rules. I'm just going to rep. So the big one is pace of play because obviously that was a huge one last year.

Baseball changed pretty sharply with this one last year. and they changed it a little bit. The pitch clock was 15 seconds with no one on last year and 20 seconds with the runner on. Is that correct? Yes. They are changing it to 18 seconds with a runner on.

Which is very interesting because the players wanted the same for both. That was the big thing all year. Just make it the same tempo. I think the players thought they would be getting more time on the 15. And the owners basically said, well, we'll make it closer to the same. We're going to shave some off the 20. So players are going to be like, oh, okay. The reason being is that they said that pitchers got so comfortable by the end of the year.

They were like using the extra 20 seconds and games got longer again, seven minutes longer. Yeah, but month by month, the average. time of the game did increase April 237, May 238, June 239, 241, July and August and 244 in September. So they're trying to recoup those minutes. And I mean, I don't think this

is going to matter at all because people were ready for the pace of play by the end of the season. And the one thing I thought was really interesting, and we talked about this before last year, was what are the pitchers going to do to the game the clock? And some did, but the vast majority

did not. And I think that I think that's like a mistake on their part or maybe there's too much going on that's what a pitcher will tell you is there's too much going on and they're thinking about things and they already feel rushed so they can't really game the clock

but you really can't like holding is such an advantage for the pitcher but this kind of eliminates that a little bit more I guess yeah Jake got anything on this sports are built on rules Jake's story Ellie

yeah I The pitch clock was a little aggressive for me at first. I covered it here on talking baseball. The biggest thing that happened, like if baseball wants those minutes explained from 237 to 244, it was the batterers learning they could call time. Like you literally,

every about, yeah. You saw it and it makes sense, you know? You go down 0-2-1-2, catch your breath. Like, and I actually like that. And maybe this is a little bit of a reflection on my Yankees that were the worst hitting Yankees team in 100 years that the games were flying by. Like I felt uncomfortable.

Like I like getting tweets off during the game. And there was a couple times. And again, the majority of this is the failing Yankees offense that I was like, what? Like how are we already in the fifth inning? I was losing a little of the allure. When the hitters figured out they could call time, that slowed it down.

the half step that was needed. And I don't think this changes anything. Like, I don't think the 20 to 18 is a real effect. The fact it's not the same time is a little ridiculous and is a good, I think just owners, players, cat and mouse. But, yeah, I guess no problem with it. And if you're a pitcher and this really affects you, like, come on, let's go. So some people say pitchers are a little soft.

and if this is really affecting you at this point, then yeah. I got a question. Yeah. Did we ever see like a runner not retouched first base? Say like a foul ball was hit and you got on first base and you're on first base and you round second, go to third, but they're fuck, we called it foul. And now you have, you know, 18 seconds to get back to the base and you have to retouch Yeah, there was one in the Mets.

Did we see that happen? I thought I did a breakdown on one with the Mets. or Buck Shawalter argued it or, um, I believe there was one. I think I did a video on it, but I forget. Because that's what I'm thinking about, like a base runner now, like has less chance to get back and settled and,

okay. I thought I saw that. But I mean, I guess that that's something the umpires have to manage, right? Like there's still some human element of this that if, let's say it's a three, two pitch and the runner takes off. and they round third on a foul ball. Like, you got to kind of let everyone reset, right? Like, it's not like the second the foul ball hits the ground,

18 seconds just starts ticking off. I think as soon as the pitcher gets bad. But we can still, if you're an umpire, you can still control that. Well, let's not give umpires the credit that they're going to do that. Part of the gig. That's why Bill Miller said. Yeah, I mean, we're probably spending a little bit too much time

on the two-second decrease. but I think we're all in agreeance which I found out was a word we're all in agreeance that we like the pitch clock and the pitch clock help you mentioned a little bit about moving a little too fast but I think eventually by the end of the year I mean and we've talked about this on the show before it

this has been probably the one of the biggest success stories of Rob Manfred's tenure in baseball so snaps to me for saying that oh yeah on air No. Badder gets strike because the base runner was too slow, a breakdown.

Yeah, it was Pete Alonzo, McNeil was up, and he hit a foul ball down the line, and Alonzo jogged. He was on first base, and he, like, rounded second, and then he jogged back pretty slow. And he got a violation. So I think that was the one time it happened. So he just didn't touch first and just went back into, like, his, like, lead.

And the Empire was like, no. No, I believe it's just like a delaying. I just, yeah, yeah, it was just he didn't get. He just didn't get back in time. Like he, he walked back. I'm trying to watch it without listening to myself. Yeah. Everyone was ready to go.

The pitcher was ready to go. The batter was waiting for Alonzo to touch first. And didn't step in, he called it. The biggest thing, lesson that everyone learned in the pitch clock was, don't worry about the pitcher or the batter. That's how, like, some gamesmanship was made. Like, the pitcher would act like he wasn't. and ready since the batter's clock is earlier than the pitchers.

So a pitcher would act like he's not even like paying attention. And the batter would be waiting for the pitcher to step on the mound. Yeah. And then he would get docked. And they're like, don't worry about the pitcher. They'd be like, he's not a mound.

And that was really a weird one because you'd be like, hey, dude, if you're ready, they can't call it on you. It's as simple as that. And batters were just like fucking that up. I remember when we went to a game together in June, Trev,

and I think Manoa was pitching against the Yankees. and he was just, or Hermann was pitching, and he was just holding guys, like they were ready in their hitting position, and you were shocked, this was earlier, it was in June, and you were like, oh my God, you just got to stand in the box while he's holding you like that for 10 seconds?

And, you know, I saw your eyes like the pain in it. And I was like, oh, I guess that does suck. Yeah, we didn't see a lot. I think that was what I was kind of alluding to earlier. Like, we didn't see a ton of that, which I thought we would. I thought the pitchers would totally, you know, game this up and use it to their advantage, but they didn't.

I wonder if that'll be implemented. Like, teams, you know, teams are always looking for something to get an advantage. Like, I wonder if teams are going to start working on pitch clock management with pitchers and all that. I assume you have to. I think they already did that. Like, the batter has to be set by what? Like, eight seconds remaining, eight seconds, they have to be in the box engaged. That's a long time.

This is going to sound dumb, again, because I'm, well, I guess I am where most people come for their hitting. advice. When batters were set at 10 seconds, it felt long. It was like, ooh, like, if Scherzer saw that, he was going to mess with you. If you had to stand there for 10 seconds ready for what's coming, eight seconds kind of felt good. Like the batter was engaged. You know, you're doing whatever your final warmups are. And if the pitcher throws it there, you're good. And then if it starts ticking down to two or one, it's almost like, kind of when, in, you're, you're, you're, you're in football when you see the play clock ticking down and the D-end like knows the snap has to come. Like if you're the batter and you see that clock getting down there, you're like, hey, you're about

to throw it. Like you have to. And I'm going to light you up. So I don't know. I think what you're saying like the hitters, again, I think the hitters made the first adjustment that if you stepped in the box too early and you weren't one of the guys that's just stays in the box and doesn't care. Yeah, you got got a couple times.

and I think if that happens to you once or twice and you're standing there for 12 seconds, just like slowly having your back tighten up, then yeah, you don't do that anymore. I was a big fan of pitch clock, still him. And everyone was saying, oh, and the playoffs is going to suck, make it different for ninth inning.

No one said that at all during the playoffs. I don't even think it was on people's brains anymore during the playoffs when it just like happened and it was fine. So. I think everybody said that like, all right, fine, we'll do it for the regular season, We need the drama. We need the buildup.

I didn't feel like we lost any of that. No. I didn't think so either. And I would think the number is easier if it's just the same as well, like 15 and 15. And then for like the base runner scenario, just let the guy get back. Like the ump starts the clock, like Jake said. And I think you just kind of have to be like, hey, alms, don't be dicks about it. But guys don't abuse it either and just like stop at second and talk to it, dude.

All in all, I think it was a pretty good success. I don't think this changes it that much. Does anyone, I quit Google. I was looking for the amount of time of playoff games. The one thing that popped up said the average playoff game last year was still three hours, one minute. So is that, I don't know, is that more pitching changes? Is that extra commercial break?

There's got to be some more TV time. I guess so, right? To add that much, that's like, extra. I mean, the pitch clock for cutting out the absolute riffraff, the clips that were going around of, you know, 45 seconds between pitches and a guy just steps out again. Like, that was a beautiful clearance. I think I'm team.

Make it the same amount of time. Make it 17, 18 seconds. So that's how players operate the best and still just trying to get the best product out of the game. But we're in a fine place with it. Let me see. I want to try and find. And so game, the last game was 5-0 Rangers.

Let me try and find, okay, there's a 5-0 game from the 2022 World Series. So both nine innings, five-nothing. 2022 was three hours, 25 minutes, and 223 was 2 hours 54 minutes. Yeah, they said the average post-season game was down 22 minutes, from 3-23 to 301. Yeah, so that's pretty good. So I like that length. Yeah. I like that length.

Creeping up in the 2.30s. I like 7 o'clock games ending before 10. You know, when they ended like right around, you know, 945, 950. That was kind of nice. Yeah. All right. Next rule change. Do you even tell the people about Seatkeek?

I did, but not fully. Damn. Well, we're co-talking. at Seekkeek, you'll get $20 off your first purchase. Go to one of these games. Know that it'll be within that three-hour window. Plan a dinner afterwards. We don't have umpires and managers doing makeup calls just to make their appointment.

And you can get there to or go to another event afterwards, because there's 70,000 events every single day on Seekek. Make sure you're getting a good deal on the app. We, if you consume some John Boy Media, we've got some fun, Seatkeek kind of content coming out soon. We'll point you in that direction. Green means good in the app. Red means bad.

Go get them green dots. Get some good value. And it's pretty good value when you use code talking. You get $20 off your first purchase at Seatgeek. $20 off your first purchase with promo code talking. Click the link. Download the app. All right.

The next one is mound visits. And I purposely have been not like getting a coin. I wanted to have my reaction live. This one is odd. The number of mound visits will be reduced from five to four for each team. Though an extra mound visit will still be awarded for the ninth inning if the defensive team has zero remaining visits at the end of the eighth. So if you are in the eighth inning and you're at three mound visits,

or you're at four mound visits? Like you've used four? Like you've used four, or you use three of your four, so you have one remaining, just use it in the eighth inning, and then you get an extra one for the ninth? What's the difference?

You'll still have one for the ninth. Because if people think there's a benefit to stalling or using it. Yeah. And you would... Is there? I don't know when there's a benefit for this, besides warming up,

Or giving or giving information. I'm just saying like, yeah, you would just use, if the teams do think it's a benefit. It sounds like this was already, like, this part wasn't a new rule.

Like, sounds like they already, it was five to six. Yeah, we just lose one. It sounds like the way that's phrased that this was in effect, the last few years

where you get one in the ninth. No, no. Yeah, like if you're out, you'll still get one in the ninth. If you use all of them, don't worry.

extra in the ninth is what it says. Yeah. You had the only loophole. It would be if you really want to use one in the eighth, you use it. Yeah, it would be like, don't worry about saving this for the ninth inning. We get one anyway. So you might be. But you've already reduced them by one a game anyway. Yeah, that's just weird.

That's just weird to me. And then the other, unless they're saying only the defenders can do it, like the players, because it says later on that umpires will permit defensive players to signal for a mound visit without actually visiting the mound. So does that mean like if they've used all of their mound visits, the catcher and the pitch and the coach can't go out anymore, but like an infielder can tell the, I'm like, hey, we want to use our last one in the ninth here. So only the players can, I don't know.

I'm not really following this. I think it might stop the clock as soon as you signal for a mound visit and that might be it. Instead of having to run and get on the mound, that's the way I'm interpreting it. Oh, I like that interpretation better. This is such a silly, mountain visits are silly in general. They don't do anything. It's all a time thing.

They were. They were a big problem before the rules. Gary Sanchez used to do like to an inning. For no reason. Dude, I'm telling you, I've never been in a mound visit that meant anything. It's like, hey, big guy, we're going to give you a breather right here. Oh, a breather?

this is baseball dude you don't really need breathers in baseball I'm against mal visits I think they're silly although I will say as a player and this is me talking as a fan now as a player I did like to get my TV time as a third basement time let me go talk to the guy and settle him down I wouldn't say anything though right I'm not gonna help him out but hey man just want to come over and give you some time

and they'd look at me like go eff yourself most of the time. Right. Last thing, last thing the pitcher wants to hear from is the chunky third baseman giving pitch. You do you? Glenn Perkins telling you get out of here back to back. Glenn Perkins up. Jim, I think that last one that you're in the rig and the roll about, I think that's for catchers calling timeout to stop the pitch clock. Yes. You know, when we, we saw that a lot. That's what I'm saying. Stop the clock. Yeah. Yeah, they always did that. Time. Right. But I'm, Yeah. Okay.

So they're saying you don't even have to go to the mound, but it'll still count as a mound visit if you call time. I think that's what we're doing. Yeah, I think they're saying if a catcher does that, they don't have to go through the farce of going. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense then. If you're just using the mound visit

because you were going to get docked a violation, don't go through the charade of the fake mountain. An actual mound visit. I mean, they're trying to shave off every second possible. And I love this note in here. It says, survey showed that mound visits were among fans' least favorite events in baseball. I mean get that survey.

Yeah. I love that survey. What do you hate about our sport? Baseball's been looking to credit why the sport's been successful. And pitch clock is the first thing they can hang their hat on. So anything that they can cut out time on. Yeah. Mound visits were crazy.

Like, it was like, come on, guys. The only thing is that we like about mountain visits And I think, you know, James, you're really going to agree with me here is seeing what kind of stride the pitching coach or the manager had. I was just going to say coaches used to walk as slow as possible and get unlimited mountain visits. Like it was such a charade of time wasting. Yes, yes.

If we go back and watch some... Not for Buck Show, Walter, he had a nice little giddy up in his sense. No Tori was walking backwards. And the Tampa Bay. Kyle Snyder. I mean, his legs, he could get there in five strides if you wanted to. And he like snail walks his ass to the mound. Kyle Snyder, the Ray's pitching coach, he's 8 foot three.

And he walks as slow as possible to the mound. That's his personality. He is. And they were the Ray, so they used every mound visit they possible could because they have to push the boundaries. And it's, yeah, it's like a delay a game. Every rules committee should have like a foreign, a group of foreign people that don't know the sport.

Like it's their first time ever watching a game. And they should go watch like a weekend's worth of games with the rules committee. And you don't have to abide by everything they say. But some of the stuff they're like, this sucks. And I think if you did this five years ago, every time they just like the catcher ran out to the mound during a big moment or the pitching coach came out and just stalled. the game for no reason, the foreigners would be like,

this sucks. So I like this rule. Okay. I volunteer Jessica for that role. I'd say every month she just gets me with something. I mean, the football games this weekend. She said, why doesn't Buffalo have a dome? Didn't have a great answer. I mean, you could get into taxpayers.

Minnesota's collapsed. Sometimes you get too much snow. But they got a new dome. That's true. Yeah, they have a roof now, not a dome. Yeah. Is that the same thing? A roof and a dome? I don't think they are. I don't think domes are roofs, but not all roofs are domes. Rectaddle squares. Move on. I'm not going down that. Batter faced minimums. A pitcher sent to warm up for an inning must face at least one batter in addition to any requirements under the three batter minimum rule. Okay, pitchers sent to warm up for an inning. So, Jim, if I may, this is a commercial break ends.

This is the first one that got me a little jazzy because this is a good cut. It doesn't happen a lot, but normally in baseball for years it's the hey you need to announce the pinch hitter once they announce the pinch hitter okay then the manager comes in and the pitcher's coming out but what this is for a pitcher uh you know say it's the starting pitcher comes out for the sixth inning um and they warm up and they send up and they announce a pinch hitter

that starting pitcher is still going to have to face that hitter or if it's a reliever trying to dodge the minimum so if you come out and you warm up on that mound, you are going to have to face a batter. So a manager is going to screw this up because for years it's been announced the hitter and then we can make the change. This gives the offense the advantage. I love this. You think a manager is going to screw up by saying, hey, we're going to take him out now.

And the umpires like, no, no, no. Yeah. So throw one batter. Yeah. I mean, this totally gives the advantage to the offensive team. Good. Yeah. So like Juan Soto's on the bench.

today. He's not, he's got a day off. Not doing that. He plays every game. Yeah, okay. All right. All right. It's a day. Okay. Okay. Um, uh, Rizzo's on the bench. He's on a heater. He's really good. Bryce Harper's sitting. I'll go off the Yankees. Uh, Bryce Harper's sitting. He's not playing this game. And they're facing the Mets. He's a warrior. You think Bryce would sit up? And who's a righty starter on the Mets right now? Who's a sanga. And Sanga is at 105 pitches. but he's facing two righties to start the seventh inning. So they send Sanga out to warm up. Hey, you're probably not going to finish this inning, Sanga, but you're going to get the first two batters. While he's warming up, they say, oh, we're going to go to our bench.

We're going to bring the lefty Harper up to face the righty. Senga in all times past, the Mets would say, actually, Senga, never mind. Probably not the best to have you face a lefty when you're at 100 and something pitches, and it's a close game. Now they're going to say, oh, shit. Okay, you have to face Harper. Yes.

Walk them and then you're coming out of the game or, you know, something like that. But yeah, I like that. It is, I like it because the farce of having a pitcher warm up when you know he's not facing a batter, even without pinch hitting Jake, like you know that is bullshit and just time wasting. But it is interesting to give the batter, the, the, the, advantage in the pinch hitting pitcher replacement for the first time ever. Yeah, I mean, it happened all the time in the dugouts if you're in there. The manager pitching coach, hey, hey, get out there.

You're going to warm up. They're going to pinch it. You'll be out. Like, that was definitely a thing. And now we have data on it. 24 instances in 2023 of a pitcher warming up between innings and getting replaced before throwing a pitch. And it added three minutes.

of dead time per event. Three minutes to Major League Baseball might as well be 10 years right now. But also, I think if anyone, if anyone's like, it only happened 24 times. What do you care? You just flip it right back on their head.

Yeah, it only happened 24 times. This is, right. It's just like fucking, let's just blame it on Buck. Buck did it every time with saying it. Yeah.

Two games a month. So. And it feels like, you know, every now and then especially, maybe less in recent years, but it'd be like, come back from commercial first second,

like, yeah, they pinch it's a new pitcher. Let's work. Let's get our guy Morgan Sword on the show, and I want to ask him, have we reworked the three batter minimum yet? Here's what I hope can happen with this rule. Because like we're saying, it's, yeah, like this is kind of the sweet spot. This didn't happen a ton, but when it does happen, it kind of stinks.

So good, perfect. I'd love to see if teams try to take advantage of this from a, let's say, starting pitchers coming out for that fifth or sixth inning. maybe their pitch counts in the high 80s. Like, kind of like the example you said, like maybe the manager sees a good, you know, 8, 9-1 coming up in the order. And they've got two guys on their bench. Maybe they go to that bench a little earlier than they normally would

in that fifth or sixth inning to try to get a lead off hitter on and just throw off the other team's rhythm. So I... Can you send a fake hitter up? Like, all right, say in my example, it's the fifth inning. Fifth inning. And the inning,

the Phillies just get out of the inning. Now Harper's not playing. He's on the bench that game. Can they say, hey, Bryce, put a helmet on and a bat in your hand and just as soon as this last out's recorded, run out to the on-deck circle. Act like we're pinch hitting you.

And then the Mets, they got to decide, oh, shit. If we send him to the mound, he has to hit. And then they say, We don't send him to the mound. So they're bringing in a relief pitcher

because Bryce Harper, the decoy, and then can Bryce just step back down? Eventually they're probably going to make a rule that as soon as a guy steps out with a helmet and a bat on his, in his hands he has to hit. I don't know. Because you can, I wonder if you get declares.

Yeah, I wonder if you get decoys the other way. Yeah, pitcher has to be, I think to start an inning, the opposite of baseball has been for years. Normally the hitter has to be announced first. the pitcher has to be announced first. So I think for that process, the Mets in this example would have to say player X is starting the inning.

Yes, I know. I'm just saying you can get decoy pinch hitters, and that's pretty fun. Sure. Make them real. If they're on the end, on edge about, oh, should we send them out for another inning? Who's he going to face?

And I'm like, oh, shit. They got seven guys. I'm doing it as kind of like a board game. Like, yes, that that decoy can be out there and maybe that'll sway teams, but it'll be, okay, who is, before you can announce Bryce Harper, the hitter,

who'll be pitching. Well, yeah, but if Bryce doesn't have his helmet on the bat, then it's not, yeah, you don't have to worry about it. Isn't the rule, like, if Bryce were on the bench that day, so he's a bench player, isn't he like technically not allowed to step onto the field?

I know we've seen it happen before, And like a fight breaks out technically, like aren't they extra in trouble? Like there's an extra fine there. I think that's just during a fight because like during celebration. Is it, does that rule, would that rule applied to if,

or would they apply that rule to like, can't just like go stand in the on deck circle that being announced is entering the game? I'm actually asking. Maybe the on deck circle. They do decoys already, you know? Like judge will have the day off. And I remember when they played,

you put the helmet on in the baton hand, top step. but then as soon as the abats over, he actually goes back. That's during an inning. So, I don't know. Like, top step I definitely have is like, no question. You're allowed to do that. I don't know if stepping onto the field is like a...

In between innings, maybe? I have no idea. So that's that rule. It's the loophole I could think of. The other one is if a new pitcher steps onto the warning track with less than two minutes remaining on the inning break clock, which is what, five minutes? 2.15.

So the new pitcher has to get out there. All right. Let me finish it. The new pitcher steps onto the warning track with less than two minutes remaining on the inning break clock. The clock will reset to two minutes rather than 215. So this is actually something the other direction. I think this is, you know, if one of your relief pitchers, their cleat falls off before they get onto the field,

they put their cleat back on, they step on the warning track and it's 1.30, minute 30 till first pitch, it resets to two minutes. But not 215. Previously fully reset to 215. But if you,

so if you come out with a minute 30 to go, you're going to get an extra 30 seconds. Right. But they were getting 45. You're promised two minutes from step out of the bullpen to... So they're not taking a lot away, but they're taking some way. You know, you're finishing up a piss.

you want to throw that one last warm-up pitch. I don't really, I don't understand how that one even came to be, but okay. I think we move on from that one. That one's a silly one. Trev, speaking of two minutes, weren't you saying you were unhappy with your sexual performance? I never said that. Oh, well, a lot of people are.

A lot of people are. And this is a new partner of ours joy mode. I'm often searching for joy mode. I am in on this. I'm a joy mode fan, Jay. And whether, and this is the good news for you, whether you're happy or unhappy with your performance in the bedroom, why not perform even better?

1% better every day. And at Joy Mode, their trademark product, the sexual performance booster, is every man's solution for increased blood flow. Yep. Firmness. Okay. Stamina.

Important. And performance. It's like pre-workout for sex. It's a palm-sized packet. You got me. You just sold me. That's what I do. Say that again.

What I do? It's like pre-workout for sex. You know, if you're going to get a good pump-in, if you know what I'm saying, you get your pre-workout on. To get a good pump in. Simply mix with six to eight ounces of water, 45 minutes before sexual activity, and watch the magic unfold. Usejoy mode.

20% off with code talking at checkout. That's 20% off in free shipping with code talking. Usejoymode.com slash talking. Great sex. Solve naturally. Link in the description. Trev, you raised your hand, which is fun. I don't know if they want me to say this.

Here we go. This is an enhancer, not like an ED type thing. Anyone can use this is what I'm trying to say. Say you have a special night and you're trying to make an impression. I think Joy Mode's the way to go. And I think I want them to semisome. Maybe it's not even a special night. Maybe it's just a Tuesday and you, you know, you want to command the mound.

Special. Command the mound a little bit. You know what I'm saying? Okay, yeah, yeah. Get back on that pitch clock. All right. Jim, here's the big one. Not talking Joy Mode. You ready for it? Base Runner's Lane.

The committee voted to widen the runners lane to include the dirt between the the foul line and the infield grass. So what you grow up believing is the running lane, your entire youth. And when you show that foreigner or sweet Jessica, a baseball field and you say, hey, what do you think the running lane is? Right. And they say probably that strip of dirt, it's now correct. Want to go straight to the base. It's now correct. I think if you run straight to the base on that strip of dirt, that's probably legal. Wrong. Forever, I guess.

And for the last, for the last eight years, like actively wrong. And they finally, baseball said, maybe let's go back to the common sense interpretation of runners' lane. This is huge. Trey Turner in the World Series, calling out Joe Torrey, Tray Turner the next year, Davy Martinez printing out a piece of paper after the post game and showing it and saying, what the fuck is this? They finally said, you know what? we won't be stubborn on this one.

You guys are probably right. So it seems silly. This is actually a big one. This has been such a frustratingly dumb issue. I've probably done like five to ten breakdowns since 2017 on just this issue. And it changed defense if the catcher or the third baseman saw him running in that left side of the dirt, which everyone, every righty batter runs in. they could just throw the ball at the runner and then he's out.

So this is huge and great. I hope it doesn't lead to more problems. This is good. Yeah, this is the gray area that I was talking about on the open of the show. I just had to Google where the runner's lane line was on the field. I played baseball my entire life. I never paid attention to that line once. it's on the foul side of the base

hugged up against the grass cut if you said draw a baseball field I wouldn't have drawn it there so that's how much this runner's lane prior to this new update meant to any baseball player no one knew what was going on this is such an interesting one because not only do we have

umpires kind of interpreting it but now we are including the entire dirt lane. That is now the runner's lane. The problem is they're all different. Some of the foul lines hug the inside part of the grass and leave you more on the foul side of it. And they're saying now it has to be 18 to 24 inches of dirt depending on the field on the fair side of the line. So this is I'm happy that it's clear now because yeah we saw so many instances

where oh he was inside the line he's out the catcher through the ball it hit him but sometimes it would get called sometimes it wouldn't get called it was straight up how we feel in today umpire do you want to get involved do you want to have a manager come out

and argue with you there it is no longer illegal common sense wins out it never made sense because you had to run on the foul side of the base and then come back and touch the base, which clearly is in fair territory. It just never made sense. It was honestly, when they wrote the rules back in 19 whenever,

they were like, everyone gets it. And then in like 2015 on, umpires started being like, no, uh, It literally means this. And they, you know, kind of like, you know, constitutionalist people would be like, those don't what they meant. Or anti-constitutionalists, I guess. That's basically how, like, it's not the purpose.

Umpires, anti-constitution. You heard it here. They're constitutionalists. But that's what they have to be. I know. Yeah, I don't know. A lot of the purists don't like this. I'm still kind of a sneaky double bad guy.

I know there's a, there's a, there's a softball, like, inclination there that a lot of MLB fans on the couch, you're a double bag, ruin the field. We don't need any of this. Like, none of either this base running area or, you know, potential, like, bang, bang plays at first base that lead to injuries and collision. Like, I don't know, that's one of our more dangerous plays in baseball currently. is a dangerous throw to the first baseman

because they're sitting there kind of like a quarterback just in the open field, ready to get popped, depending where the throw is. Like, I think I'm willing to expand on this more. Like, let's get out of the way and let's get the contact out of there. But isn't it the same at any base?

Like in any other base, the runner establishes the baseline and you have three feet on either side, of it and as a fielder you have to move. We don't have three feet on either side. What are you talking about? We just said you got 18 to 24 inches.

I understand that. I'm saying other than first base, it's three feet after you establish the baseline. So you can establish a baseline wherever you kind of want. And then the fielders have to move and create a lane to throw so they don't hit you. I don't know what the difference is at first base. Like you just got to

create a lane or get the fuck out of the way if you're going to get hit. Like that happens every other, at every other base. So I don't, I don't know. This, this to me is, I'm happy with it because it just kind of clarifies the rule, but. Look at this one. No longer illegal because no one would ever watch that and say Trey Turner's doing something wrong. No.

Ever. He got called for that? Yeah. Maybe I've spent more time with this than most people because I do a video on it all the time. it's the most preposterous and ridiculous thing so I'm so glad they changed it. That is insane because you know what?

He got called there but probably 80% of the time he wouldn't get called because the umpires just don't they never enforce the rule the same way. It was always like I don't know what are you feeling today John?

At least there's clarity now. I think that is my main takeaway is okay. We know exactly what the rule should be and how it's going to be enforced. Go play the game. Yeah, I'm excited about that one. And then what's this say?

Rules tabled. So they said, I love table and stuff. That's awesome. A proposed rule aimed at limiting fielders ability to block bases other than home plate was unanimously tabled by the committee for further discussion this offseason. So I think I remember talking to you guys about this. And I noticed it a lot more last year with Donaldson and Tim Anderson and some other players of blocking the base runner's path to third base particular.

I know they do it at second as well, but it was like, if a guy was taking a big lead off third and the catcher wanted to snap throw to third, they, you know, Donaldson, and this is why Donaldson Anderson got into that fight, just put his whole leg in front of the base and then would catch the ball and just fucking slam down

where he's going to hit him. He's got to dive head first and change it. I believe, Trev, you have a counter to the problem here. or is that Jake? No, that's Treff. Trev says going in with the spikes. Yeah, I mean, if you know a guy's going in head first,

why wouldn't you put your knee down after you have the ball? I mean, that's within the rules. And you can block the base to tag as soon as you have the ball. Now, if you're going in before you have the ball, obviously that's illegal. But runners are always so mad. What are you trying to hurt me? I'm like, no, bro. I'm trying to get an out.

And you can go in spikes up to make sure I never. do that again. But you want... Is sliding head first faster? I guess the only... Maybe it's more elusive, I guess. But like, if you, if I know that you're a runner, say my shortstop,

and I know you're a runner who comes in to second base and you slide head first every single time, I mean, you're taught to catch the ball and put your freaking leg in front of the base. That's just what you're taught. And I think it's actually good baseball. Like, if you're

going to do something to be evasive, I'm going to do something to stop that. Now, there's a counter to that. You can come in and blow me up. And I've seen that happen where guys all of a sudden change up because I know some guys known for putting their knee down. He goes and spikes up. You can do that. So this is, I never want guys to get hurt. And I think this is what they're trying to avoid is like, you know, fingers being broken and all these different things. But there's a reason that got table because they're like, well, this doesn't make sense. It got tabled because the players want it. Um, like, Like, the counter to that is...

I don't know. I don't know. Okay, pick off. Trev, you're leading off third base. Yeah. Here's the pitch, catcher, pick off play to third. You're not sliding back cleats. Like cleats first. You're going back head first to dive back for the base.

So... Don't get off too far. Then the catch is going to pick you off. If you're going to be an idiot and get off the base so far, the catcher wants to pick you off, then that's what you have to... Right, but what's better for the game, a casual...

collision for no reason at third base or aggressive base running? Like, I don't know. The blocking the bases does nothing for me. I know you were taught it, but also catchers were told to block home plate originally and to get in the way. So like, it's the advancement of the game for me. And I don't know. There's one or two plays a year when they zoom in and you're like, wow, can you,

he's actually, he's touching his leg. He blocked the bag. And it's like, wow, that was a heads-up play. I don't know what that does for me personally. And I don't know. I think people are, for some of those plays, especially pick-off plays and stuff like that, you're not going to slide back feet first.

You're going to go in head first. So your runner counter there doesn't exactly work perfectly because you wouldn't go in spikes first. You're also not going to get hurt in those situations because you're sliding back with not enough force to really. do anything. Now I can understand you're saying, well, you can't get back to the base. There's no nowhere to go. I can see that, but umpires will call it. And you can, I think you can challenge that if they block the base without having the ball. I'm pretty sure you can challenge obstruction.

I don't know, man. I think that you can't just give and give to base runners. Like, you already gave them the three pickoff rule. You know, you already gave them the pitch clock that you can time up. Now all of a sudden we're saying, well now you can just slide into the base however the fuck you want with no repercussion i don't know man like sometimes you got to still keep some strategy in the game and some physicality to the game like if you're but if i get if you're one of those guys that abuses this rule and you're actively trying to hurt guys and put your knee down to to inflict pain and all these things and you don't have the ball i get that but still part of the game let me let me let me show you

show you the Tim Anderson and Josh Donaldson example and for anyone that wants to look at it because I think they table this because they don't know how to police it and they want to figure out a right way to do it because it does seem you know the way Josh is doing it here is it's going to break his arm like what happened to you oh shout out a j and it's a catcher thrown back to third but like Donaldson's knee comes pretty late and almost just like bends his forearm or you know gets his forearm in the middle and then they got to fight over it. it. That's real slow-mo, Trave. Like, in real speed, it was pretty fast. Yeah, I know. I mean...

Because they're kind of diving over there. I just don't know how you police that because you could say that's Donaldson's natural movement getting to the ball. I don't know. Yeah. At second base, it's so pleasable by the players because it's like, if your legs there, just go and feed first. And that's going to suck. Yeah, I mean, I get there are some instances where, you have to go back head first for instance right there and diving back into first base

head first but I don't know I think he can't take all the physicality out of the game and some of these things like there are just counters to you know of a runner trying to take advantage

you have to be able to counter that in some fashion as a defender but I also don't want to see you guys get hurt so I understand I always say number one thing for me is let's get the best players and keep them on the field because that's what fans want to see. You don't want to see you guys get hurt. You want the best players on the field, all that.

But I don't know. I think sometimes we're going a little too far. It would be like what do they come up with to prevent this from happening and how often do they call it and who's in charge of calling it? There's probably so much learning about that to like, we can't institute that right now and change it and like test it in the minors and all shit. I think they did. Who I have an idea? They did test it in some league. if we do this rule and we untable it and make it a rule,

no more oven mitts. Get rid of the oven mitts. Not about the worthy oven mitt. The oven mitts should be fucking so illegal. I can't believe. Credit to Brett Gardner. And adds an extra inch. Credit to Brett Gardner, my dude, who invented it.

And I think he's going to have his oven, oven met in the Hall of Fame. But it's crazy that you just get an extra longer fingers. can I wear batting gloves with with inch like corks at the end? Like when you're running? Yeah, like I get the first base and I put a batting glove on that has, you know, an inch of cork at the end of the fingertips and now I'm just longer. I'll ban the other.

You could. I suppose you're at a jam risk there, but I don't see why you, why it would be against the rules. Maybe my fingers go inside the cork. To have like a finger slot. The glove gets cut open and just corks pop out. It's like these little feet like look. Yeah, legal. You can do it.

Now I'm sliding feet first. Feet first, hands first. I'm a speedy bass runner. I need all the rules to favor me. No. And I do want stealing back in the game. I'll trade out the glove for not blocking the bases. Okay.

I bet you the runners wouldn't do it. It's too cool now. Too much swag to give up. What am I supposed to put my back Swag? Oh my. Go watch a youth baseball game. These kids don't even know what a slide head first

and they have other mitts on. Right. Oven mitts are in youth baseball. Oh my. Teddy has one. Trev. He has no idea. He asked me every day.

You teach me on a slide head first? I'm like, no. How do I even teach you that? It's just something you do. Sliding head first was illegal when I was in elementary school. It's because I feel like there was like a year it became like

you're allowed to do it. It might be because they can't do it. Yeah, it was like when I was in middle school, it was like you can slide head first now. You can't have. All right. Jake here. It's deal.

You got to hide that. You got to hide that oven mitts. You got to hide that oven mitts. I mean, you got to say like, oh, from Teddy. Yeah. No, he loves.

And he just, like, said it looks cool. You got to say like the groundhogs are back and they must have stole your open mitt. No, this is where old school, this is where old school parenting kicks in. you tell him you want to wear an oven mitt, you got to wear two the whole game. You got to help mom cook three pies.

So he's hitting, he's double ovenment. He's fielding, he's double ovenment. And that'll get it, you got to wane him off. I've heard of parents doing that. You catch your son, like, this is way old school because nobody smokes cigarettes anymore, but you catch him smoking a cigarette and you make him smoke like a whole pack right in a row.

My grandpa did have my dad. He heard that. In front of me. Ugh. It's gross. All right, so those are all the new rules. You want an ovenment smoke a whole pack? of Sigs in front of me.

Have you watched your... Hey, Teddy. Yeah. Dad, this doesn't even make sense, Dad. I'm your dad. I know we've already talked about it. Man, Teddy working the ladder the other day got me. That was the first time it was like

kid in the backyard playing baseball. And then it was like, dude training to play baseball. And I'm worried. Oh, it just got me because I was like, shit. Like, Teddy's, He's a kid. He's old. Yeah, that's how I felt too. It's funny because that's what I see now, like when he's playing,

is there's kids, the best kids, they just know how to control their bodies at this age. Like either they're strong enough to control it or they just are naturally able to control their bodies. Most of these kids can't. So we got this ladder and, like, just watching him try to, like, control his feet and his arms altogether. It's just hilarious.

is. But yeah, we got a little, you know, a little ground ball session, tea work, you know, he loves the ladder. I think that's really important. Hey, if you're a parent and your kid is a youth baseball player, ladder, man, get the ladder, make him do it, or soccer. Like, you've got to do one of those two because the footwork is so important. So, yeah, he's doing it. He's having fun. All right. James Golf Swings better than mine. Sent a video that Jake yesterday. James is going to be sorry. It's really nice. James is they're going to be the next like multi-sport athlete he's got like um perfect type of guy like he's got like uh won soto's like legs like how much he gets in his legs and squats it's crazy what's he's squatting

right now him his body weight which is probably more than he should be able to do it's pretty good dude he's making him a golfer golfer's got to life dude yeah look look look at this squat Oh, he is using his legs Already I can see Oh yeah And look at the hip transfer there Oh make him a golfer James dude That is it

Fucking crazy I sit on the other side of room I said try to hit me in the head He almost got me twice Katie was like what are you doing? I'm like well It's a good aim He likes doing it

He just throw some money at him right now He never knows doing it We just go down there and he does it And then he pitches me batting practice All right Love you guys See ya Comment a rule you want in baseball