Random Post 1

If I could write about anything, I’d probably write about my favorite thing: New York Yankees Baseball. Conveniently enough spring training for all of baseball starts right now at the end of February. As many in sports claim; there is no offseason, and I agree. Over the past few months there hasn’t been any actual gameplay, however there has been a great shakeup of rules. Unfortunately Yankees fans are getting restless (myself included), as the winnest franchise in all of sports has had some heartbreak in recent times and hasn’t been on top since 2009. To give an outlook on their upcoming season it would be useful to understand the new rule changes coming to baseball this season and how they will affect the Yankees.

First there are three major rule changes to baseball this season. There will now be a 20-second pitch clock. This clock is the allotted time that the batter must be ready to bat and the pitcher must throw the ball. The rule is being implemented to reduce game time. As a way to appeal to a younger audience baseball has been ridiculed for their marathon-of-a-game that could go on for hours. With successful trials in the minor leagues, the pitch clock has reduced the game time by one hour on average and hopes to find the same success in the majors this year. A concern for the Yankees is most of their pitchers are power pitchers, meaning their skills lie in fast pitches. Like working out you can endure more stress if you take breaks in between. A worry I have and the media alike is if the pitch clock will cause pitchers to overwork themselves in a short time period and create more injuries.

The next rule change is larger bases. Each base (except home) has gained a few inches on each side to have less collisions between players. Seemingly a minor change, however there are countless plays in a season or even in one game that could be decided by inches. We will see how this rule changes those close plays. For the Yankees they have many young and upcoming players looking to make their case for a starting role in spring training. With these young athletic players do the Yankees try stealing more bases and being more risky running after a hit? The next few games will reveal if they will try to take advantage of this rule change.

The last of the important rule changes is the ban of the shift. The shift is a defensive strategy to place multiple defenders on one side of the field or in atypical spots on the field. With the growth of technology and analytics it would be almost surreal sometimes to see the defense placed in a specific formation and the batter hits it exactly to where the players are standing. This new rule enforces a more traditional layout of defensive players in the field. The ramifications of this are going to be a huge uptick in offensive numbers. Like with the pitch clock, MLB is trying to cater to a younger audience and more offense means more home runs and exciting plays to appeal to them. The positive point for the Yankees is in the playoffs specifically they have struggled offensively. Players that have struggled or strongly hit to one side of the field will now be able to get some more hits without analytics placing a player in the perfect spot.

Historically, I have been in line with many fans in keeping baseball the way it is and traditional. But, for the good of the game I am excited to see these new rules be implemented. The longevity of the sport relies heavily on fans, so if these rules drive ratings and game attendance change would be for the better. I eagerly await the season to see how specifically these changes affect the Yankees and either help or hurt our chase to be World Series Champions once again.