![]() Pickoffs and step-offs reset the pitch clock, and the rules will limit pitchers to two for each plate appearance. The position of defensive players can be reviewed - and, if a defense is deemed illegal, the batting team can choose to accept the outcome of the play or take an automatic ball instead.īy limiting disengagements with the mound, either via pickoff move or step-off, the rules hold accountable pitchers who would otherwise have a pitch-clock workaround - and are likely to significantly increase stolen bases, part of the action MLB intended to increase. Even more pertinent, shifting an infielder to play short right field, or simply overshifting three infielders to the right side of the second-base bag, will no longer be legal. ![]() With all four infielders needing to be on the dirt, the days of the four-outfielder setup will be over. The banning of defensive shifts, which were once a fringe strategy but have become normal occurrence and the bane of left-handed hitters, is among the more extreme versions, preventing defensive player movement in multiple directions. One by the hitter constitutes an automatic strike. A violation by the pitcher is an automatic ball. The rule is strict: The catcher must be in position when the timer hits 10 seconds, the hitter must be have both feet in the batter's box and be "alert" at the 8-second mark and the pitcher must start his "motion to pitch" by the expiration of the clock.
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