Alyssa VanPelt, Staff Writer
Evan Drellich, writer for The Athletic, wrote the article “MLB institutes two rule changes for 2025, closing loopholes on shift violations, base running,” on January 23, 2025. Throughout this article, he explains the two new on-field rules that will be changed for the 2025 season for baseball. Both these rules were unanimously passed on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, by the competition committee.
According to Drellich, the “most significant change is a stiffened penalty for a fielder who violates the infield shift rule and also is the first to touch the ball” (Drellich). To explain, “The league’s ban on the shift prevents teams from stacking more than two infielders on either side of second base before the pitch is delivered. Typically, that means a shortstop has to stay on the left side, and a second baseman the right” (Drellich).
According to the MLB official website, in September 2022, the Defensive Shift Limits were changed as well, where MLB announced “three rule changes that were approved by the league’s Competition Committee” for the 2023 season. They explained that “with the new rule changes, defensive teams will be required to have a minimum of four players on the infield, with at least two infielders completely on either side of second base. These restrictions are intended to increase the batting average on balls in play, to allow infielders to better showcase their athleticism and to restore more traditional outcomes on batted balls.” So, why change the rule again for the 2025 season? Well, according to Drellich, “Both times teams were caught breaking that rule in 2024, a shortstop had ranged too close to second base — and was also the first to touch the ball in play” (Drellich). The first violation Drellich highlights was, “on May 17 [2024] on Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa at a game against the Guardians in Cleveland. José Ramírez was batting with a runner on first and one out when Correa started the play slightly behind the second base bag. Ramírez hit a one-hopper that took Correa to his right when he threw on to first” (Drellich). The Cleveland baseball team challenged the play, and the umpire found Correo had violated the rule. However, Ramírez would have to return to the plate and bat again, but with this new rule, Ramírez would have had the option to move to first base.
Furthermore, according to Drellich, “Previously, the only recourse for a shift violation regardless of who touched the ball first was the choice between accepting the result of the play, or an automatic ball for the batter. That created a potential scenario where a team might feel it wiser to position a fielder in violation of the rule and risk the potential of a ball” (Drellich). Now, with this new rule in place, if an event like that occurred again, the batter would be granted first base, and any runner would be able to advance one base. The fielder who committed this violation would be “charged an error” (Drellich). However, the offense could decide to decline the penalty and take the result of the play.
Ideally, this rule would prevent teams from risking a penalty by breaking the rules to guarantee more wins for themselves. This rule would force teams to play more fairly, resulting in higher quality games as it would force players to do their best athletically.
Leave a Reply