Look, the MLB Did Something Right!
Major League Baseball fields a lot of criticism, and most of it is warranted. Calling out the league for its inability to adapt is a sport in itself that every fan can partake in. I’ve written about the many problems baseball has on numerous occasions, and not a day goes by where I don’t daydream about a coup d’etat to overthrow Rob Manfred. Fantasies about mutiny aside, I can give credit when it’s due, and the MLB deserves it in respects to its partnership with the Atlantic League.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, the Atlantic League is the highest level of unaffiliated professional baseball in the United States. Most of its players have major league service time under their belts, and a lot end up signing with big league clubs. It’s sort of a pipeline for players who slip through the cracks, a second chance to play meaningful baseball without having to move to Japan or Korea.
In 2019, the MLB and Atlantic League agreed to a three year partnership that essentially turned the Atlantic League into a laboratory. The MLB institutes experimental rule changes, observes the effects they have on gameplay, using the results and player reception to judge how effective the changes would be at the big league level.
We’ve all heard or even seen the experiments at the minor league level. The pitch clock debuted at Double-A and Triple-A in 2015, and it’s patiently waiting on the inevitable call-up to the Majors. This year, there are rule changes specific to every level. The bases at Triple A are larger, growing from 15 inches to 18 inches square. Automated strike zones will be tested out in Low-A ball this season, with calls being sent through an earpiece to the home plate umpire. Unfortunately, early results here show the robotic umpire is biased against your favorite team. Still working out the kinks.
The point really is that a lot of these rule changes have their origin in the Atlantic League. The MLB draws inspiration from college, independent, and foreign baseball all the time. The problem is that the MLB has zero control over the experimentation, something they desperately need so as to keep it’s collective ego in order. This partnership with the Atlantic League gives them exactly that. In return, the ALPBL gets an opportunity to grow it’s own brand and establish itself as a feeder system for the big leagues.
Meanwhile, the MLB can use the Atlantic League as it’s lab rat, testing their mad scientist hypotheses without stepping on any of their clubs’ toes. Take, for example, the two radical rule changes they’re bringing to the ALPBL this season.
The first, moving the mound back, was part of the original plan from 2019. Injury concerns and some pushback from the league postponed it to this season, where the rubber will be moved to 61.5 feet at the season’s halfway point. The other rule change, gaining traction in some circles as the “Double Hook” DH rule, is an unconventional solution to the universal DH debate. Basically, it marry’s the starting pitcher to the DH spot in the lineup, so once the starter is pulled, so is the DH.
Putting aside the endless circle of debate on the potential consequences of these rules, their existence alone is a positive. Radical changes like this would be incredibly difficult to impose on affiliated clubs, especially the mound move. Big League clubs don’t want prospects risking injury. With the Atlantic League assuming that initial risk, the MLB can use it as a testing ground to perfect the rule before bringing it to the Minors.
This is exactly what’s happening with the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) technology being tested. In 2019, they found pitches high in the zone lead to less contact than pitches on the edges. So this season, they’re lowering the strike zone by an inch, and adding an inch to either side. Sounds like the baseball scientists paid attention in middle school science class. As long as the machine’s don’t learn too fast and become self aware, baseball is on the right track here.
The MLB has a long journey in front of it to “save baseball”. Changing the rules isn’t going to solve the pace of play or lack of action problems overnight. It certainly won’t address the marketing and accessibility issues that have plagued it since the steroid era. But things like the Atlantic League experiments leave room for some hope.
