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- We’ve heard about the possibility of new pace-of-play initiatives all winter long, and it seemed inevitable that the pitch clock would eventually come to the majors. Well, it appears that we’ve avoided that for the moment, as the league released their new pace-of-play initiatives on Monday and no clock was involved. The biggest change was a limiting of mound visits to six per game per team. A mound visit includes any visit from a coach or a meeting between players that involves leaving their position. Exceptions are being made for when pitchers are being subbed in and out of the game, players are using the mound to clean their spikes or there is injury concern. Catchers will also be able to appeal for extra mound visits in the case of signals being crossed up as a safety concern. It also appears there is no in-game penalty for this, so all-in-all I see this not really being enforced unless teams go crazy against the face of the rule. It’s hard to know how much of an effect this would really have anyway without knowing how many mound visits were occurring in typical games. Beyond the mound visits, the league has also reduced time between innings.
- The Diamondbacks were Boston’s biggest competition to sign J.D. Martinez, and with the Red Sox agreeing to terms with the slugger Arizona moved quickly. They’ve signed Jarrod Dyson to a two-year deal and he’ll be competing for time with Yasmany Tomas in that Arizona outfield. Dyson is no Martinez, of course, but he’s a really solid and underrated all-around talent.