Changes in Major League Baseball are coming at us like a Noah Syndergaard fastball, leaving fans breathless as we attempt to process what is happening to the grand old game.
Defensive shifting is commonplace. Relievers are starting games and leaving after one inning. The launch-angle revolution is increasing both fly balls and strikeouts, with strikeouts exceeding hits in 2018 for the first time.
For better or worse, baseball in the 21st century bears little resemblance to the game you grew up with, and more changes are in store if Commissioner Rob Manfred has his way.
Pitch clocks were instituted in spring training as an experiment, and MLB is proposing a rule stating no reliever can be brought in unless the previous pitcher has faced three batters or an inning ends.
"There are two distinct trends we watch very carefully," Manfred said. "One is pace of play, and the second is the amount of action in the game.
"We are thinking about both of those topics and we think we can make small changes in what is still the greatest game in the world in order to make our entertainment product more competitive."
Sounds simple. Appeal to the millennials and hope they embrace the sport. Problem solved.
But the dizzying number of proposed changes of late has some players shaking their heads in disgust.
Dictating how many batters a pitcher must face is a fundamental alteration of the way the game always has been played.
What's next? Four strikes instead of three?
"I don't even pay attention to those rules until they're in play," Cubs veteran Ben Zobrist said. "I heard about (the three-batter rule), but to my knowledge it's a new discussion. I'd be surprised if that gets passed without a lot more discussion happening first. It would change the whole game.
"There are so many things they're talking about or have started conversations about, playing with various things. A lot of it is focused on speeding up the game, and it's really not the way our game was created. Our game was created for the tactical side, not the speed side of the game."
