MLB announces new pace of play rule changes

MLB has announced new pace of play rules that will go into effect for the 2018 season. MLB is not instituting a pitch clock, which has been perhaps the most prominent proposal that has been talked about, saying the league wants to try to give teams an opportunity to speed up pace of play without a formal clock.

However, teams are now limited to six mound visits per side, per game, that result in something other than a pitching change. Mound visits are apparently defined as not just being a manager or pitching coach coming to the mound, but also a catcher or other position play going to the mound to confer with a pitcher.

This has the potential to be significant, as catcher visits are now…