To the dismay of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, the off-season’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the players’ union resulted in only a few rule changes designed to speed up the game. The most talked-about one is that intentional walks are now allowed by a manager’s hand signal instead of pitchers’ throwing four balls on purpose.
The rule change is being received with mixed results at best. It isn’t expected to save much time – on average, a whopping total of 1.5 pitches a game. Through Wednesday’s games, MLB teams had given up a total of 47 intentional passes.