Dodgers: Would a Three Batter Minimum Rule Appeal to Dodgers’ Fans?

The Dodgers and the rest of the league may have to change their pitching strategy if some of the proposed rules go into effect. One of those is a three batter minimum rule.

When baseball commissioner Rob Manfred and other baseball executives met to discuss possible rule changes, one of the proposed rules was enforcing a three batter minimum rule.  The rule would be to help decrease the amount of time that baseball games take due to excessive pitching changes.

If the rule went into effect, each pitcher that came into a game would have to face three batters before they can be replaced.  This would mean the end of two or more relievers coming into the game in less than an inning.  It would also make relievers more important since a team like the Dodgers would need relievers who can get left and right-handed batters out.  It would also eliminate specialists who can only get one side of the plate out.

In 2018, the Dodgers and Red Sox were tied for the Major League lead in the longest average game time at three hours and thirteen minutes.  The lowest average was two hours and fifty-seven minutes by the Kansas City Royals.  Basically each baseball game was going to take an average of three hours, across the league.

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A three batter minimum rule would definitely help shave off about twenty to thirty minutes a game since there would be fewer pitching changes, which means less time spent on allowing each reliever to warm up when they come into the game.  While baseball purists will surely hate this idea, to the casual fans this would be appealing since it would shorten the time it takes to finish a baseball game.

Of course there is still the pace of play issue that this minimum batter rule would not fix.  The amount of strikeouts in games has increased dramatically with batters no longer afraid to strike out as they try to hit home runs.  Last year the league averaged seven to nine strike outs a game per team which means over a game there would be at least fourteen strike outs a game.  That is another culprit in why the pace of play is slower.

There is no doubt that Dodger games would average under three hours a game if Major League Baseball enforced a three batter minimum for each pitcher that comes into a game.  The question remains even with time saved, will a slow pace of play still drive away casual fans?

I’m of the belief that whether a game is 2.5 or 3.5 hours you are still going to watch the game if you are truly interested.  Should Dodger game take less time to finish, it will be interesting to see if more fans tune in.