Major League Baseball announced new rules Friday aimed at speeding up the plodding pace of its games. Beginning this season, hitters will be required to keep one foot in the batter’s box during at-bats and managers will no longer be required to leave the dugout to challenge calls.  The league will also introduce timers between innings and during pitching changes, requiring pitchers to complete their warm-ups 30 seconds before the end of the break in play. Hitters will be encouraged to step into the box 20 seconds before play is set to resume, coinciding with the time broadcasters return from commercials.  The rules are intended to reduce the lulls between game action, after the average length of nine-inning games reached a record-high 3 hours, 2 minutes in 2014.  “These changes represent a step forward in our efforts to streamline the pace of play,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement released by the league. “The most fundamental starting point for improving the pace of the average game involves getting into and out of breaks seamlessly. In addition, the batter’s box rule will help speed up a basic action of the game.”  Batters will still be allowed to step out of the box if one of several exceptions occurs, most notably if the batter swings at a pitch. And managers can hold play from the top step of the dugout by signaling to players and the home-plate umpire that he is considering a challenge. But if nothing else, the new rules should reduce the time it takes to go from the end of a commercial break to the resumption of play.  Timers will be installed on or near outfield scoreboards and on the façade behind home plate. They will be set to 2:25 immediately following the third out of each half-inning (2:45 for nationally televised games). Batters who don’t step into the box before the five-second mark and pitchers who don’t begin their motion before the clock hits zero will be subject to warnings and fines.  Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz, who chairs MLB’s pace of play and instant replay committees, said the league’s steps on the issue were deliberately conservative.  “It is not an objective of ours to achieve a dramatic time reduction right away,” Schuerholz said. “It is more important to develop a culture of better habits and a structure with more exact timings for non-game action.”
MLB to use timers between innings and pitching changes and will force batters to stay in the box, among other changes