This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers' Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Changes are coming to Major League Baseball in 2023, and the Royals are already starting to think about how the new rules will impact their team.
"I personally think they'll be good," said Nicky Lopez, the Royals' MLBPA representative. "In Kauffman Stadium, it's going to be awesome. It's going to help us. We're a defensive-minded team, and a fast team. I think this helps a bit. But you don't really know. We'll have to adjust on the fly."
Following recent experiments in the Minor Leagues, the recently formed Joint Competition Committee voted Friday in favor of three rule changes aimed at improving pace of play, action and safety at the MLB level: a pitch timer, limits on defensive shifts and bigger bases.
"It's a bigger deal than maybe what people think," manager Mike Matheny said.
Pitch timer
The rule: Pitchers will have up to 15 seconds between pitches when the bases are empty and up to 20 seconds between pitches with at least one runner on base. A pitcher may disengage the rubber (timer resets) twice per plate appearance without penalty. However, this limit is reset if a runner or runners advance during the plate appearance.
The pace of play was vastly improved in the Minor Leagues this year, in part thanks to a 14-second timer with the bases empty and 18 seconds (Double-A and lower) or 19 seconds (Triple-A) with runners on base.
"If we played a three-hour game in Triple-A, it was long," said Jonathan Heasley, who made nine starts in Triple-A Omaha this year. "I like it, personally, because I work quick anyway."
The pace of Royals pitchers ranges quite a bit, according to FanGraphs' Pace statistic. Heasley does work quick, averaging 21.8 seconds in between pitches. Angel Zerpa (19.2 seconds) and Brady Singer (19.5) shouldn't have trouble adjusting to the timer -- Zerpa has spent most of his time in MiLB this year, anyway -- and Daniel Lynch (21) isn't far off, either.
The slowest pitchers are some of the Royals' relievers: Scott Barlow, who has pitched exclusively in high leverage the past two years, takes an average of 24.7 seconds in between pitches, Taylor Clarke is at 25.8 seconds and Josh Staumont is the slowest by far at 28.2 seconds.
A hitter must be in the batter's box and alert to the pitcher with at least eight seconds remaining, and hitters receive one timeout per plate appearance. Batters who violate the timer are charged with an automatic strike; pitchers who violate the timer are charged with an automatic ball.
"It was fast at times," said first baseman Nick Pratto, who struck out twice in Triple-A due to a pitch clock violation and said he'd like to see a few more seconds added to the timer. "Toward the end of me being down there, I got a little more comfortable with it. You have to consolidate a lot of what you do in between pitches. For the most part, I didn't really get out of the box.
"I wouldn't want the quality of baseball to suffer because everyone seems rushed. But I think everyone will get used to it."
Singer does have reservations on only being allowed to disengage the rubber twice, including pickoff attempts. If a third pickoff attempt is made, the runner automatically advances one base if the pickoff attempt is not successful.
"You got guys like Bobby Witt, who if I hold, he'll see two seconds and take off. He's smart and fast," Singer said. "You'll have to hold runners better That's probably something I'll focus on in the offseason, just being comfortable holding runners. There's going to be a learning curve."
Defensive shift limits
The rule: The defensive team must have a minimum of four players on the infield, with two infielders who must be positioned on each side of second base when the pitch is released. All four infielders must have both feet within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Infielders may not switch sides unless there is a substitution.
Royals slugger Vinnie Pasquantino gets shifted on 94.1% of the time, which ranks sixth in baseball, although he still has a .354 wOBA (which assigns value to how a batter reaches base, in terms of its impact on scoring runs) with the shift. Catcher Salvador Perez, who is right-handed, has a .285 wOBA with the shift on (76.7% of the time) and a .416 wOBA without the shift.
The point is, some players could see an offensive boost when teams are limited on how many infielders they have on the pull side.
"I don't think banning the shift is necessarily rewarding guys for rolling over a ground ball," said Ryan O'Hearn, who has been shifted on 76% of the time this year. "It's those line-drive base hits that would be over the second baseman's head if they're in the infield. Right now, those are all outs with the second baseman in shallow right field.
"I see the counterargument. Hit it where they're not. Bunt against the shift. Single the opposite way. We should be doing all of that, but it's harder said than done. I'm excited about this."
Defensively, the Royals don't shift as much as other teams. But they value defensive-minded and athletic players, and that might help them next year.
"You're going to see really athletic second basemen, defensive-first-style second basemen, guys who can cover a lot of ground," Matheny said. "It might not start that way, but I bet it evolves to that. It's going to be as important as that shortstop-style defender."
This Twitter thread from MLB.com's Mike Petriello was an interesting way to visualize the ban on shifts.
Bigger bases
The rule: The size of first, second and third base will increase from the standard 15 inches square to 18 inches square, reducing the distance between first and second and second and third by 4 1/2 inches.
Increasing the size of the bases will likely limit collisions on the basepaths, leading to fewer injuries. Many think it will also encourage more steals, in tandem with the pitch timer.
The Royals love giving the green light for stealing, especially with Witt, whose 30.4 feet per second sprint speed is the second fastest in baseball. Steals could go up for Lopez, Nate Eaton and Michael A. Taylor.
"Bigger bases, for a speed team especially in this park, I like that," Matheny said. "We like to steal bases. It'll make it more incentivizing to put a bunt down, put a ball in play and leg it out. You'll see infield hits go up."