NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is set to announce a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts next season in an effort to shorten games and increase offense.
The sport’s 11-man competition committee is set to adopt the rules changes Friday, mandating a clock that will count down 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. The MLB clock will be slightly longer than the version experimented with in the minor leagues this season: 14 seconds with the bases empty and 19 seconds with runners on at Triple-A, and 14/18 at lower levels.