MLB can solve pace of play issue without changing a thing

New MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will face a lot of pressure when he assumes his duties in January to make radical changes to the game in an effort to speed up play.

There are concerns about the pace of play and rightly so. It was one thing a decade or so ago when the sport, fueled by rampant use and abuse of performance-enhancing substances, had juiced pitchers throwing pitches to juiced hitters and there was a ton of offense.

A 14-13 game will take awhile to finish.

There’s no reason, though, for a 3-2 game to take the same amount of time. But it’s happening—a lot. This season, an average game is taking three hours and eight minutes. That’s up from about two hours and 55 minutes just four years ago.

But there is no need for crazy rules such as limiting the number of pickoff throws, or mound visits.

Just enforce the rules we have, like Rule 8.04, which states:

"When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call Ball. The 12-second timing starts when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and the batter is in the box, alert to the pitcher. The timing stops when the pitcher releases the ball.The intent of this rule is to avoid unnecessary delays. The umpire shall insist that the catcher return the ball promptly to the pitcher and that the pitcher take his position on the rubber promptly. Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire."

So when was the last time we saw this rule enforced? Anyone? Bueh-ler?

FanGraphs.com tracks the pace at which pitchers deliver the ball to the plate and this season, that rate is 23 seconds (this obviously counts situations where runners are on base, but still). In 2007, the first year pace information is available via PITCHf/x, the pace was 21.5 seconds.

So it’s slowing down. Add 1.5 seconds to every pitch in a game with 300 pitches and you’ll find that some very real time, 7½ minutes to be exact, has been added to the average game just since 2007 based on the rate at which pitchers get the ball to the plate.

Of course, if home-plate umpires would be a little more consistent about enforcing Rule 2.00 as it pertains to one particular area, it would help, too:

"The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball."

They even included a nifty diagram to help, on Page 22 of the Official Baseball Rules for 2014:

Seems pretty clear, right?

Except umpires rarely, if ever, call anything above where the bat is located in the diagram a strike. That will slow a game down.

Here is the strike zone as called by umpire Tom Hallion with left-handed hitters at the plate in Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers (with gratitude to the folks at BrooksBaseball.net):

And here’s Hallion’s work with right-handed batters:

For starters, notice the shape of the strike zone. It’s sort of flat when compared to the strike zone as defined on Page 22 of the Official Baseball Rules, don’t you think?

Call the strike zone as it’s defined and games will get faster.

Finally, there is Rule 6.02:

"(a) The batter shall take his position in the batter’s box promptly when it is his time at bat.(b) The batter shall not leave his position in the batter’s box after the pitcher comes to Set Position or starts his windup.PENALTY: If the pitcher pitches, the umpire shall call “Ball” or “Strike,” as the case may be.(c) If the batter refuses to take his position in the batter’s box during his time at bat, the umpire shall call a strike on the batter. The ball is dead and no runners may advance. After the penalty, the batter may take his proper position and the regular ball and strike count shall continue. If the batter does not take his proper position before three strikes have been called, the batter shall be declared out."

Former major-league umpire Jim Evans told the Wall Street Journal in 2011 why this rule is rarely enforced:

"“In the big leagues, are you going to tell a .340 hitting to change his style of batting? If you tell these outstanding hitters they have to get in the box sooner, do you know the kind of grief they cause an umpire?”"

So, in other words, it’s better to let the batter adjust his gloves 25 times between each pitch than enforce a rule … because the batter might yell at you.

The bottom line? Enforcement of just these three rules could shave several minutes off every single game in Major League Baseball.

Without having to do anything ridiculous to change the natural flow of the game.