The rules changes were a huge part of baseball’s story last year, so as we head into another year under the new rules I wanted to review what the Royals did or did not do to take advantage of them. First up, base stealing.
Under the new rules there were two changes that improved the odds of swiping a bag. One, the bases themselves were made bigger, which makes the distance between them just a little bit shorter for the runner. Two, pick-off attempts were limited. If a pitcher threw over to a base/disengaged three times, it was a balk.