On Thursday, Major League Baseball’s competition committee voted to approve a series of rule changes for 2024, including a shorter pitch clock, a wider lane for runners going to first base, and more rules affecting pitchers. The Competition Committee, which was created as part of a 2022 collective bargaining agreement, is comprised of six owners, four players, and an umpire.
The league announced updates including subtraction of two seconds from the pitch clock when there are men on base (cutting the time from 20 to 18 seconds), nothing that nothing will change for scenarios in which the bases are empty, as pitchers will still have 15 seconds to begin their delivery. John Stanton, Chairman of the Competition Committee and Chairman of the Seattle Mariners said: “From its inception, the joint Competition Committee’s constructive conversations between players, umpires and owners have produced rules that significantly improved the game for fans. These modifications will improve on last year’s work by the Competition Committee, which was a resounding success with our fans and for the sport.”
Other changes coming in 2024 include those to the runner’s lane (the space a player is allotted to run to first base), which will be widened in the upcoming season, expanding to include the dirt area between the foul line and the grass on the infield. Widening the lane is intended to allow batters “a more direct path to first base,” according to the MLB, and also aims to limit interference in gameplay.
The committee is implementing additional 2024 pitching changes that will continue to increase the pacing. The pitch clock will restart after a “dead ball” — meaning a ball that is out of play, such as a foul ball — when the pitcher gets the ball, when previously, the clock only began when the pitcher had reached the mound. Visits to the pitcher’s mound will be reduced from five to four per game, with an extra mound visit awarded in the ninth inning if the defensive team has zero remaining at the end of the eighth inning.
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