Since commissioner Rob Manfred took over in 2015, Major League Baseball has faced several key challenges -- from navigating a COVID-shortened season and a contentious labor battle to controversies about sticky substances on the mound and the baseballs used across the sport. Now with spring camps set to open this week, MLB is about to embark on perhaps its greatest challenge yet: implementing dramatic on-field rule changes designed to make baseball more entertaining and played at a better pace.
Bigger bases, a pitch clock and rules clamping down on the infield shift headline the changes that will debut when spring training games begin on Feb.