MLB Rule Proposal Would Shorten Inning Breaks: Latest Details and Reaction

Amid talks of a pitch clock and other more radical approaches, Major League Baseball has come up with a more novel idea for shortening game lengths: stop warming up for so long.

A new proposal, as shown to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com, would require pitchers to be done with their pre-inning warm-ups and be prepared for their first pitch 30 seconds before the end of each commercial break. Batters would have to be in the box 20 seconds prior to the end of commercials.

Ostensibly, these new rules are designed to have game action ready to go immediately upon return from break. Stark's report indicates that, on average, players are wasting nearly a minute every half-inning in non-nationally televised contests. It's possible this rule alone could shave upward of 15 minutes off each game without instituting any sweeping changes to how the game is played.

In recent years, MLB and the MLBPA have begun discussing ways to shorten the sport's ever-elongating game lengths. In 2014, games averaged three hours and eight minutes, the longest in MLB history, per Baseball Prospectus, via Tim Berg of USA Today. Games have increased by more than 20 minutes over the last half-decade—a trend that some believe is hindering baseball's popularity.

“We’ve had a lot of ideas thrown out there, and we’re trying to figure out what makes sense without disturbing the game itself," MLB Vice President Joe Torre told Berg. "We have to do it in conjunction with the MLB Players Association. You’re not going to jam something down somebody’s throat, you have to make them understand that this change is necessary.”

Dropping 20 or so minutes from the average game would stabilize games around the area they'd settled at the previous decade.

Officials have also looked into more radical proposals, including installing a pitch clock in minor league stadiums. Double-A and Triple-A stadiums will use pitch clocks for the first time in 2015. While it's unclear whether that change will ever make it to the bigs, it appears MLB is serious about making immediate changes to solve its game-length problem.

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