During the course of the new MLB season, new rules have been implemented to change the game for the better, and they have in fine fashion. Games are shorter, viewership is up, and attendance is up by nearly ten percent.

But a certain question has arisen: Should we change what’s working?

MLB rules officials and commissioner Rob Manfred were engaged in serious talks of altering or eliminating the new rules that were set in place at the beginning of the season for the playoffs. According to MLBPA, the players’ union, Executive Director Tony Clark, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, and the players were open to discussing a change in these rules in time for the October playoffs.   

What rules do they want to see changed? The pitch clock and the pickoff rule.

The pitch clock rule states that a pitcher has 15 seconds to deliver the pitch to the hitter with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners on base. Failure to do so will result in an automatic ball granted to the hitter. 

The pickoff rule is when the pitcher has a limited number of attempts to successfully pick off a leading runner. If they fail to do so on the final attempt, the runner is granted the next base.

But why do the players want to see changes to the rules that have impacted their sport so positively?  Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon said, “I’m actually very against how it’s happening. It helps left-handed hitters like me. But anytime you have the boss implement something against the will of the players, that’s not good for the game of baseball.” 

The players have been able to create a loophole, giving themselves a competitive advantage, which has left MLB’s commissioner and rules officials with a tough decision to make.     

To go along with these rule changes, near the mid-July mark the MLBPA and all players held an anonymous vote on whether they wanted the rules to be changed, and over 60% of the vote was towards changing the rules mid-season or playoff time. 

The reasons for these desired rules to be changed or revoked may vary, but the on-the-field issues are the main culprit.

A prime example is how in just the first few weeks of the season, a fight broke out between players Tim Anderson and Logan Webb over a loophole Webb was able to exploit. After every pitch Webb threw, he would not step off the rubber and would be standing ready to pitch whenever Anderson was taking time in between pitches, virtually making Anderson defenseless. Anderson got so upset with Webb that he walked out of the batter’s box as a pitch was coming, taking a strikeout and getting ejected. 

But oddly enough this isn’t the only instance of players creating loopholes with the new rules. 

It is worth noting that this season’s new rules have already been changed. During a mid-May game, hitter Wilson Contreras was able to bait Pitcher Kenley Jansen into violating the pitch clock rules three times in one at bat by standing in the batter’s box with one foot out and one foot in while staring right at Jansen, meaning Jansen couldn’t pitch til Contrears was fully engaged in the at-bat.  This ended in a walk for Contreras, and attributed to a Red Sox loss. 

The rules were altered four days later, making what Contreras did illegal. 

The MLB playoffs have arrived, and the new rules remain intact, so it seems the MLB is going to play this out. And it’s good that they do, as there is no denying the success of these new rules.