MLB Exploring Extreme Rule Change Next Season

Same Game, New Rules

Major League Baseball has seen a slew of changes over the past three or four years when it comes to the rules of the game. We have seen a pitch clock get implemented so pitchers only have a certain amount of time between pitches. We have seen the DH become mandatory in both leagues, so pitchers no longer come up to bat in the NL. We have seen a "ghost" runner get put on second base at the start of every extra inning when a game goes past nine frames. Those of us who have been watching for a while have plenty of opinions regarding these new rules, some favorable and some unfavorable.

All of this has been in an effort from MLB to make the game more exciting, as it was deemed to be "too boring" before the new rules came to fruition. It is no secret that viewership was at an all-time low before 2020, and was sinking steadily every season. Every effort has been made to have more action on the basepaths and more offense, which means every new rule has been to the detriment of pitchers, with the newest rule being they only are allowed two pickoff attempts on a baserunner.

Now, it appears MLB is exploring the possibility of making six innings mandatory for every starting pitcher. This would likely dramatically increase offense throughout the league, as starters many times only go five innings on average. If a guy has a pitch count of 100 through five frames, he is going to really be tested for endurance having to go a sixth. If a starter gets blasted for seven earned in the first inning, well, he still has five more he'll have to get through.

Is MLB Going Too Far?

Many fans think this new rule change would be horrendous for the game of baseball, and would likely cause a ton of injuries to starters moving forward. There will be games when a pitcher gets shelled and has 100 pitches through four innings, which would mean he would likely have to throw over 120 pitches in a game. There would be a lot of risk to the health of players, and I would be shocked if the MLBPA even lets this cross their desk before speaking out against it. This will also take an element of strategy out of the game and limit a team in terms of their ability to match up with certain batters.

Personally, I don't think this new rule will ever happen. It puts too much stress on a starter to have an efficient performance every time out to the mound, which is impossible in the game of baseball no matter how good you are. The health of their arms will be in serious jeopardy and in today's age of throwing upper-90s gas, they are trained to throw their best stuff from the first pitch of the game, as hitters are better than ever in 2024 baseball.

Houston Astros RHP Hunter Brown famously allowed the most hits ever in a single inning earlier this season, giving up 11 of them in just 0.2 innings of work before being pulled. He gave up nine earned runs and also threw 40 pitches before even getting through one frame. Now, imagine if this rule was in effect.

I am all about growing the game, but this rule proposal is stupid and only will take away from it if there aren't some serious conditions applied to it. Even then, this seems like a bad idea that is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.