Extra Inning rule thoughts & other baseball notes

 

The daily soap opera is officially back; here’s a taste: Bellinger’s first homer of the season was a single, a cat that looked like a Gameof Thrones animal delayed the Rockies game, Nick Castellanos got suspended for a standard dunk celebration, Jacob deGrom was taken out of the Mets opener which he was dominating after throwing 77 pitches, and the extra inning rule snake bit the Yankees, twice…

On the topic of the new rules, the extra inning rule has been under the microscope the most in the first week. This rule seems to be here to stay along with seven inning double headers, with the universal DH, no shifting, and larger bases following at the end of the season. I’ve talked a lot about the casual fans experience over the past year since the public fight over money happened in the papers last summer. With the new rules, most fans brushed off the changes as “pandemic rules,” and now that they are seemingly here to stay, are not happy about it. So, with the uneasiness to change baseball (as has been the norm since the dawn of the century), let’s look at some rule changes in other sports that drew similar amounts of unrest among fans. Before the start of the 2018 season the NBA changed their shot clock rule when an offensive team grabbed an offensive rebound or retained the ball after a deflection out of bounds; before 2018 if that happened, the shot clock would go back to 24 seconds, after the rule change, it would reset to 14 seconds. Fans were uneasy about how that would change the game because the second possession would be “rushed.” Before the 2015 season, the NHL changed their overtime rules, instead a five on five for the overtime period, it would be three on three. Fans were up in arms and gave a similar argument to the runner on second rule that “it wasn’t real hockey.”

What both rule changes in the NBA and NHL did intended to make the game faster and take up less time. The extra inning rule is in a way doing that, trying to cut down on game run time, but it isn’t the main goal—just a happenstance side effect. Also, notice the dates of when these rule changes happened; within the past six years. The leagues know in the age of social media that fans attention spans are shorter than ever so they are trying to combat that with rule changes that will make the game faster and not completely spoil the product. Do I like the runner on second base at the start of the 10^th rule, not entirely, because I think it is partly just a rule to throw in the face of fans to say that baseball is “trying” to solve their problems, but I don’t hate it. It was an adjustment for me, and I did throw it out with yesterday’s trash when I first heard it, but now that it has been in my life for a while, I’ve adjusted and grown to like it. Just like the shot clock rule or overtime rule, this rule will grow on baseball fans, it might just take longer…

As for the team that has been at the wrong end of the new extra inning rule, the Yankees, they’ve got their own problems so far in the opening week of the season. No, I’m not talking about Giancarlo Stanton’s strike outs that have had the 20% capacity fans boo’ing like the 2004 Red Sox are in town, I’m talking about problems that have predated Stanton. The inability for players to stay healthy (mainly Aaron Judge) and Gleyber Torres’ short comings as a shortstop. For the first issue, I don’t know the reason for the problem and no clue of how to solve it since nobody really knows if it is Aaron Judge, the training staff, or a cocktail of both.

Judge is awesome when he is on the field, one of the most gifted players in the league, he just can’t stay on the field. This left-side soreness that he has been dealing with, I hope is just side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine since the Yankees are 75% vaccinated (which includes players, coaches, and team personal). I also hope this isn’t an issue that haunts Judge for an extended period of time and by this time next week can start to play everyday again.

 As for Torres, the Yankees have their answer about Torres’ ability to play shortstop. Torres isn’t the worst shortstop in the league, but he is slightly below league average, while also being a way better second baseman. DJ LeMahieu is a gold glove wining second baseman causing the Bombers to have a tough fix. Do you play LeMahieu at first while Luke Voit is rehabbing? That’s an easy short-term fix, but what happens when he gets back? Do you play LeMahieu at third, Gio Urshela at short, and Gleyber at second? DJ is a decent glove at third baseman, but he’s played a total of 97 games at third base in nine seasons (he’s also played four games at shortstop). When Voit comes back, what I think will happen is there will be a rotation of days where Voit gets a day off or DJ, especially with the Rougned Odor trade. Yankee fans strap in for 800 different lineups this season and no static awesome lineup.

Around the rest of the league, James Paxton might need Tommy John Surgery which would keep him out until mid-2022, Paxton threw just an inning and a third before coming out on the second batter of the second inning, and he looked like the old Big Maple before exiting.

The defending champions have been hurt slightly with minor injuries to Bellinger and Betts. It will still be exciting to see their title defense, even though Trevor Bauer might not be around for a few starts since he is under investigation for doctoring the baseball in his first Dodger start.

Baseball has had a tough week, particularly in Queens with perhaps the roughest blown call in recent memory, and Luis Rojas taking deGrom out in the seventh inning because the Mets got “six good ups out of him” spitting in the face of every Met fan and trying to reinvent the language of baseball. Rojas said before the opener for the Mets that deGrom was good for 90-100 pitches, and deGrom threw 77 without any signs of slowing down. Even with Steve Cohen buying the team, controversy and lack luster team management doesn’t change.

An eventful first week will only get better the more games that are played. I’m excited to have it in my life for the next seven months.