Chicago Cubs: Minor League pace-of-play changes loom large

Baseball means execution and strategy – period

Throughout the history of the game, it’s taken a blend of strategy and execution to win. Extra-inning wins aren’t supposed to be easy. But the league is so hyper-focused on cutting length of games, they’re willing to jettison that out the window.

At all levels of Minor League Baseball, extra innings will begin with a runner on second base. The runner at second base will be the player in the batting order position previous to the leadoff batter of the inning (or a substitute for that player).

So, in other words. If your number six hitter leads off the tenth, your number five man will be the runner at second to start the frame. If you pinch run for him, as it has been, he is unable to return to the game.

I get the sentiment and thought here. You get the excitement of an extra-inning win without having to keep fans in their seats for four-plus hours on a weeknight. It makes sense. But I think there’s also a beauty to grinding out a lengthy extra-inning game and picking up a win.

You still have the late-inning drama. Players still have to execute. The more I think about this, the less it bothers me. Which is weird, given I’m a semi-traditionalist. My main issue is that I think it makes it pretty easy to score runs.

Runner at second, no one out. Move the runner over (I know it’s easier said than done), then you have two cracks at driving him in from third. We’ll see how it plays out in the Minors – but I still expect unprecedented backlash from fans and the MLBPA on this.

The league is playing with fire here

Okay, so you’re worried about game times. Making sure (or at least lessening) the odds of 15-inning contests is a logical place to start. But that’s not enough. In comes the pitch clock.

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The MLBPA has fought tooth-and-nail on most pace-of-play proposals in the last year – especially the pitch clock.

But since Minor League players aren’t part of the union, the league dropped this new pitch clock on these guys instead.

15-second limits for no one on base and 20-second clocks with men on. Most guys already adhere to these standards, but, I just don’t see it making a drastic enough difference to matter to most fans.

If my three-hour game now winds up at 2:48, I couldn’t care less. If a guy takes longer on the mound as part of his delivery, but gets my team results, so be it. Far be it from me to change his delivery or routine that’s gotten him to this point.

Really, I think this is going to have minimal impact – to the point I ask why even bother rubbing players the wrong way by implementing it.

Okay, this one really makes sense – kind of

If you’re going to limit Major League teams to six mound visits, there’s no reason you don’t carry over that guideline to Minor League clubs, as well. That doesn’t mean I think it makes sense – in fact, I think the opposite. But a uniform approach is logical.

In my line of thinking, I want catchers, pitchers and managers on the same page. Why? Because I think it leads to a higher quality product on the field. Now, there is no reason Willson Contreras needs multiple mound visits in one batter to get on the same page with guys. You’ve got me there. But I still think the communication piece is key here.

Could we see technology more integrated into the game to allow communication between dugouts and the catcher? We’ve heard so much about an automated strike zone already that I wouldn’t rule it out. Of course, replay has grown exponentially in recent years, which leads me to think the league is at least open to these types of ideas. But who knows.

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All told, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. But, above all else, these moves seem guaranteed to do one thing: irritate the ever-loving h*ll out of the union. As if this winter’s free agency hadn’t already done that enough.