The New Pitcher-Batter Dynamic—Baseball Could Feel Very Different
As of the 2023 baseball season, the confrontation between the pitcher and the batter has become a whole new ballgame. Two modifications to this fundamental relationship promise to dramatically change how pitchers, catchers, and batters interact.
The first and most discussed rule change is the pitch clock, a series of limits that define the duration between pitches, and between batters. The second, which may in the long run at least as significant, is the rule expansion around PitchCom, the device that lets the catcher and pitcher communicate the pitch type electronically (eliminating the need for complex finger signals). Pitchers are now allowed to have transmitters as well as receivers, a potentially revolutionary change in the way pitches are called. All three participants in the pitcher, catcher, batter drama will be looking for even the slightest advantage and loopholes in the rules, and some might even venture beyond what’s legal.
To limit the opportunity to steal the catcher’s signs, in 2022 the major leagues allowed a new electronic signaling system, named PitchCom. A transmitter with multiple buttons worn on the catcher’s wrist, wirelessly connected to receivers in both the pitcher’s cap and catcher’s helmet, no longer would the catcher have to put down finger signals that could be intercepted and decoded by the batting team. After some initial skepticism, many batteries began using the technology.
One of baseball’s best and most innovative hurlers, however, decried the new technology as removing cleverness and preparation from the game. “I don’t think it should be in the game,” the Mets’ Max Scherzer objected in 2022. “Stealing signs is part of the game. I’ve always taken pride on having a complex system or signs and having that advantage over other pitchers.” Nevertheless, baseball wanted to move past the sign stealing controversies, and for 2023 expanded PitchCom’s useability.
The pitcher can now also wear a transmitter. This change allows the pitcher to communicate directly with the catcher beyond simply shaking off the catcher’s sign, his only option since the introduction of catcher signals nearly a 150 years ago. Now he can tell the catcher what he wants to throw without worrying that the batter and everyone in the batter’s dugout can intercept his signs. We would not be surprised to see some pitchers calling their own game in the future. There are still a few kinks to work out, however, and the technology can occasionally backfire. In an early 2023 spring training game, Twins catcher Tony Walters had his receiver turned loud enough for the Tampa Bay batters to hear the pitch selection. Nevertheless, for two innings—until the umpires alerted Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to the issue—Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda surrendered only two hits and no runs.
It is the pitch clock, however, that has generated most of the ink and airtime this spring as players adjust and apply their gamesmanship to the new circumstances. Briefly, the pitcher must begin his motion within 15 seconds (20 seconds if there are runners on base) of receiving the ball, and the batter must be in the box and ready with at least eight seconds remaining—defined as having his head up and looking at the pitcher. Batters are allowed one timeout (i.e. stepping out of the box) per plate appearance. In addition, pitchers are only allowed two pickoff attempts per plate appearance with runners on base. A third unsuccessful pickoff is treated as a balk.
Once again, Scherzer is leading the way searching for advantages. In one spring game against Washington, Scherzer waited until the nearly the end of his allotted time to pitch to Victor Robles, getting a strike. Robles stepped out of the box, and when he stepped back in, Scherzer pitched almost immediately as the umpire reset the clock. The umpire disallowed the pitch, calling a balk. Scherzer later remarked that he felt it was a legal pitch, that he had received the umpire’s okay, and Robles was alert. The umpire saw it differently, and MLB quickly clarified the rules, noting a pitcher cannot deliver the ball "before the batter is reasonably set in the batter’s box."
Similarly, pitchers are using the pitch clock to disrupt baserunners. Pitchers have historically tried to manage base stealing by holding the ball for varying lengths of time on the mound. Now they have a fixed time frame within which to keep the runner off balance, while still being unpredictable as to when a pickoff attempt may be coming.
Mets manager Buck Showalter verbalized the new frontier of gaining a tactical advantage with the new rules. "Max and a lot of veteran pitchers and pitchers in general are going to use this time to test some things and make some adjustments," Showalter said. "Everybody up here is looking for a competitive edge--hitters, pitchers, catchers--and it's a good time to be testing those things."
Over the past roughly 30 years, baseball evolved into a game centered on the pitcher-batter matchup. With long pauses between pitches, fewer balls in play, and the increased use of relief pitchers, other aspects of baseball, such as fielding and base running, have ebbed. The new rules, plus new technology like PitchCom, should reverse this trend and create a new dynamic. They will also open new opportunities for crafty gamesmanship.
