Apr 18, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) throws the ball into the stands in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor recently talked about the new rule changes imposed by the MLB.
Most broadcasts now include an on-screen display of the pitch clock, which is now set at 15 seconds (20 seconds if there is a runner on base) in accordance with the revised rules governing the pitch clock. When the clock reaches eight seconds, batters are expected to be ready to hit, and the pitcher is obligated to throw the ball before the timer runs out. When there is a breach of the rules, the hitter receives a strike and the pitcher receives a ball.
According to statistics that were made public by MLB, there has been a significant influence right away during the first two weeks of the season. The new length of a nine-inning game is two hours and 37 minutes, which is a reduction of 30 minutes from the previous time. That equates to 81 hours throughout the duration of a schedule consisting of 162 games.
Additionally, there are more balls in play and runs are being scored at a faster rate. The overall batting average across the league has increased by over 20 points, moving up from.230 to.250. There is almost unanimous agreement among players and fans that the alterations have resulted in a more exciting version of a game that is 150 years old and has been around for that long. Initially, the modifications were criticized by baseball traditionalists for interfering with the game’s integrity.
New York Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor recently spoke about the new MLB rules and he mentioned that he has likened the experience of playing with a pitch clock.
Talking about it, Lindor said, “I like the pitch clock, I think it’s it obviously speeds up the game right? But also just kills a little bit that time in between pitches and in between innings you know, you know exactly how long everything’s gonna last out.”
He added, “You know, you know, after one pitch with a guy on base, there’s going to be 20 seconds and if there’s no one other than 15 seconds, you have a clock you know what’s happening with Bob to run up to the clubhouse to go to a restroom or grab a snack in between in between innings? I know I got two minutes so I better hurry up.”
Lindor is one of the best players in the MLB, and if he is liking the pitch clock, it certainly means that other players around the league would have also loved this new rule imposed by the league.
Another set of new rules imposed by the MLB was the shift rules. According to the new regulation, before each pitch, each team is required to have at least two infielders positioned on either side of second base, with all four players standing on the soil that surrounds the infield. Unless there is a substitution, players who play in the infield are not allowed to move places.
During the 2017 MLB season, clubs placed their infielders in an over-shift position (defined as having more than two fielders on one side of second base) 33.6% of the time when a batter came to the plate. The technique was even more effective (55.0%) against left-handed batters, which commonly led to those left-handed hitters getting thrown out on ground balls hit to the second baseman who was playing in short right field.
The Major League Baseball hoped to see a higher percentage of balls in play result in hits because the number of singles per game had reached an all-time low during the course of the previous three seasons, and the overall batting average (.243) was at its lowest point since 1968. It is anticipated that doing away with the over-shift will be beneficial, although doing so will necessitate more athletic plays from the infielders.
The left-handed batters have loved the idea of playing without the shift and Francisco Lindor also expressed his comfort with the new rules. He expressed his love for the new shift rule change on the Rich Eisen show.
Speaking about it, Francisco Lindor said, “Love it, I think that’s my favorite part why there’s no shift really allows me to be myself and make try to make that plays and go off to baseball without worrying I’ll run into someone else. If there’s more real estate now I can run around you know, I don’t have to be timid to our football I want to be that little kid in little league where the ball has been hit. I just want to go catch it.”
The New York Mets star player has played extremely well so far this season and is looking forward to winning the World Series with the franchise Since he is loving all the rule changes done by MLB this season, there is a chance we might see him having a monster season.
So far the New York Mets shortstop has been off to a decent start this season, and he will hope to get better as we progress further into the season. This season he has averaged .230 with 14 hits, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 13 runs scored in 17 games.
In comparison, last season he had a batting average of .270 with 170 hits, 26 home runs, 107 RBIs, and 98 runs scored in 161 games. With the shift rules in effect, we are bound to see better performance from Lindor this season.
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