J.J. Cooper of Baseball America reported Tuesday night that the independent Atlantic League and MLB agreed to use the Atlantic League as a testing ground for new rules, rather than minor-league affiliates of major-league teams like the Phillies.
Among these new rule changes will be the use of Trackman systems to call balls and strikes. It is the first step towards robot umpires in MLB. Cooper also wrote that the mound is believed to be moved back from 60 feet, six inches, although he said no one with the Atlantic League would confirm this.