Significant rule changes are coming to Major League Baseball in 2023.
The league’s competition committee voted to ban defensive shifts and implement a 15 to 20-second pitch clock. Also included in the vote was the addition of bases that are 18 inches square, up from 15 and a limit on pickoff attempts.
There was player dissent in the voting on defensive shifts and pitch clocks. The 11-person competition committee is comprised of six league appointees, four from the Players Association and one umpire. The MLBPA released the following statement after the vote was made public:
Starting next season, all four infielders need to have their feet on the infield dirt with two infielders on either side of second base.