Strikeouts are killing baseball

As home runs and strikeouts spike, baseball faces a problem

 

When a representative from MLB himself is saying it, you know shit just got real.

 

Speeding Up The Game: The MLB Will No Longer Allow Pitchers To Deliver Stirring Monologues Between Pitches,

 

A spot I always thought they could speed the game up is in the eight extra warm-up pitches on the mound a relief pitcher gets. The guy just came from a bullpen where he was, ideally, throwing all the warm-up pitches he needs. With as many pitching changes are occuring now, this time adds up.

Can a more informed person explain to me why these pitches are necessary? Couldn't relief pitchers just come right out and start pitching?

 

I feel like maybe they are warming up the catcher to catch the new pitcher as much as they are warming up the pitcher.

 

That makes sense, and I guess there is no way around it if that is part of the reason. It just always feels like an eternity to run out from the outfield, throw your eight pitches, do all the normal stuff pitchers do to themselves behind the mound and then finally restart the game.

 

Also, bullpen mound differs from the pitcher's mound on the field.

Remember ... we're talking about pitchers here!

 

They could certainly cut it to four.

Also, as a disincentive for mid-inning pitching changes, any pitcher brought in during an inning in progress starts with a 3-0 count on the batter.

 

And the offending pitching coach has to land a 9-iron in the special square hidden somewhere in foul territory or the fans in section 331 won't get free hot dogs.

I mean, as long as we are making up random rules ...

 

It's not a random rule.

It's making mid-inning pitching changes much more risky and thus incentivizing managers not to use them.

Starting with a 3-0 count, pitchers would come right in with fastballs down the chute. Boom.

It would result in tired/ shaky pitchers being ridden for an additional batter or two, which will increase offense.

It would be the end of one-batter situational platoon pitching changes.

Teams would probably trim pitching staffs by one or maybe two pitchers, (since you would almost never use pitchers for 1-2 batters) and instead carry an additional field player.

 

Self-defeating. Research has shown it's batters and pitchers taking time between pitches that does the most to make games longer. A tired, shaky pitcher is going to take much more time between pitches than a new reliever.

 

I'd enforce an ironclad 20-second pitch count too.