It’s another bright spring day today on March 30th, 2023, and it is a beautiful day to kick off our Nation’s pastime… That’s right folks, its opening day. So, get out your cracker jacks and prepare the beer snakes. It’s a long 162-game march to October.
The New Rules will take Some (More) Time to Adjust to…
I feel confident in my theory that the new shift restrictions would open up baseball to feel more like baseball again. That you will see more base hits (singles and gap doubles) get through the defense than you would with 3 – 4 guys loaded up on one side of the infield. It’s refreshing to see an opportunity for singles to have an effect on moving runners and actually manufacture runs, in a game that has trended towards home runs and big swings for offense.
Hitters are already seeing better results, and, thanks to the pitch clock, games aren’t going on longer even with the added offensive production. They’re actually averaging about 30 minutes faster than in previous seasons. And yes, there were some shenanigans with the pitch clock violations…
But even pitch clock violations got lesser and lesser as the time went on. But I just KNOW that there will still be players in some games who will forget that the pitch clock exists as they are trying to dial in their approach to the next pitch. Especially later in games and in the season when there are true crunch times and you have someone like .
Let’s not forget about the bases!
The size difference in the bases doesn’t look extreme on the surface, 18″ vs 15″. But when you see the results of 2 months of spring training you simply can’t ignore the fact that the bigger bases coupled with the handcuffing of a pitcher to only 2 pick off attempts per at bat has made it friendlier for base stealers. You have (partially) removed a weapon of the pitcher/defense to hold on a runner and made the bases shorter. The tweet below shows, not only the giant softball safety bases that they are using now, but also what elite speed looks like on the new basepaths.
I mean, just look at the size of that base! It looks like it’s carrying an XL pepperoni pie from your local pizza place.
Stolen base attempts are up 50% this spring and they were successful 77% of the time, as opposed to 71% success a year ago… We WILL see multiple guys this year swipe 50+ bases and I think at least one is going to go over 75 or even hit triple digits and I think that bubble teams might be able to capitalize on this and use it as an agent of chaos this year to make some noise in the playoffs.
What will happen??
I think this year will be refreshingly new and irrationally difficult for some of us “old school” baseball fans to swallow. But overall I think we have a lot to look forward to this year:
- A metric shit load of stolen bases are going to happen this year and I think there is potential for a handful of guys to hit triple digits (Acuña, Carrol, Mullins are my picks, with a nod to Randy Arozarena).
- The Padres disappoint and limp into the playoffs only to get tossed out early. I think this team on paper should dominate but for some reason, there might be TOO MUCH talent. (AKA the anti-Dodgers.)
- Correa and Verlander leaving the ‘Stros throws them off rhythm… and concurrently, the Twins (Correa), Rangers (DeGrom & Seager), and Guardians (Bell) think they might have found missing pieces to make their teams competitive… The AL West and Central have a resurgence year.
- Taking it one step further, I think this is going to be the year of the American League. Whoever gets into the playoffs this year for the AL can’t slouch and lose a single game it will be a tight race wire to wire.
- The Brewers ride a hot wave this year to the World Series but lose in 6 games to the Rangers.
And the biggest prediction of them all? Baseball actually makes a bit of a rebound this year after players and fans both agree that the faster pace of games is better. Especially if offense and base stealing trend upward in the way that I’m predicting, those fast games will feel even faster. Constant action with more balls in play and more competitive baseball. For now, I’m optimistic, but only time will tell.
Because as I mentioned before, this is a long march to October for these teams, and us fans. Along the way we will see who was right and who was wrong, and at the end we will be blessed with playoff baseball. You will live and die with every game that your team plays… Carrying that torch into November… Pearly and white, with 108 stitches on it… Let’s play ball.
BONUS Top 5 BASEBALL MOVIES:
1. Bull Durham: One of the most quotable movies to exist, terrific dichotomy of Minor League journeyman helping the rising star find his way.
2. Major League: “It is very bad to steal Jobu’s rum, very bad.”
3. The Sandlot: I mean, I feel like I have to for what this movie means to the world, not just baseball fans.
4. Moneyball: Just a fantastic movie all around and really killer jobs by Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. A fun take on the other side of baseball not the games and girls.
5. The Rookie: Just a personal favorite that I watched way too much growing up so it will always have a spot on my list, and it’s just a genuine good movie for the whole family.
Honorable mentions: For Love of the Game, Field of Dreams (easily could have had all 3 Kevin Costner movies on the list), the original Bad News Bears trilogy, Sugar, Mr.3000.
Goosing with G 
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