Rule/Schedule Changes I Want in MLB

Rule changes and schedule adjustments that I'd like to see in MLB.

I think MLB is trending in the right direction; however, some significant changes still need to be made to improve the league.

1. Schedule shortened to 150 games

Player health, specifically pitcher health, has been a rising concern over the past few years, and it will only get worse if changes aren’t made soon. Jacob deGrom, Sandy Alcantara, Felix Bautista, Robbie Ray, Shane Bieber, Spencer Strider, Eury Perez, Shane McClanahan, Luis Garcia, Dustin May, Jeffrey Springs, and many more, are rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery, a process that takes at least 11 months.

Via Sue Ogrocki/AP

To help limit injuries, changing the schedule to 150 games would be beneficial, as 12 extra off days throughout a 6-month regular season could make a huge difference. In this scenario, the regular season would still go from the last Thursday of March to the final Sunday of September or the first Sunday of October, but teams would get two additional off days each month. This rule change would also prevent teams from playing up to 13 consecutive games without an off day.

2. Increase roster size

To make it easier for teams to use a 6-man rotation or have bullpen games, rosters should be increased from 26 to 28 players and then from 28 to 30 in September.

In this era of baseball, pitchers aren’t throwing deep into games. For example, Blake Snell won the Cy Young award last season, averaging under six innings pitched per start. This means relief pitchers can get overused down the stretch when starting pitchers are only tossing 5-6 innings on average, so an extra reliever on the roster would help manage reliever workloads.

3. Ball-strike challenge system

The ball-strike challenge system is the final rule change I’d like MLB to implement. This system allows batters to challenge a strike call and vice versa for pitchers. A batter or pitcher can tap on their head to indicate that they want to challenge the home plate umpire’s ball/strike call, and an automated zone will show up on the jumbotron to indicate whether the challenge is successful or not.

The new technology is currently being experimented with in the minor leagues, and it looks excellent from what I’ve seen. They’re also experimenting with whether teams should get two or three challenges per game, which are retained when the challenge is successful.

I’ve heard some concerns that this system will slow down the pace of play; however, each review only takes a few seconds and will eliminate many umpire complaints. The system is similar to the hawk-eye challenge system used in tennis, where players can challenge an in/out call, which will be reversed or confirmed within a few seconds.

Let me know if you agree with the changes I proposed in this article and what other changes you want to see come to MLB in the comments.