Will the golden at-bat be implemented under Rob Manfred’s watch?
Rule changes have been a hallmark of Rob Manfred’s tenure as MLB commissioner.
His latest idea is being met with skepticism by many as a bridge too far.
“There are a variety of things that are being talked about out there,” Manfred said of discussions around rule changes. “One of them — there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting — was the idea of a golden at-bat — that is putting your best player out there out of order at a particular point in the game. That rule and things like that are in the conversation-only stage.”
The idea is simple. Once a game, a manager gets to put his best batter at the plate regardless of where the batting order stands. So imagine, as a pitcher facing the Dodgers, you get Shohei Ohtani out in a high-leverage situation. Then Dave Roberts plays his golden at-bat card, and you have to face the best hitter in baseball all over again.
How does the golden at-bat stack up to previous rule changes?
Baseball has undergone significant changes in recent years, to mixed reviews — most notably the pitch clock, limited pickoff attempts to first base, bigger bases and free runners on second base starting in the 10th inning.
“My instinct is that it’s not baseball,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not the game the way the game has been played a hundred-plus years. And I just have a problem with it from that perspective.”
What about the automated strike zone?
As far as the automated strike zone, Manfred said that two versions are under consideration. The first consists of a home plate umpire who wears an earpiece and “just calls what the system tells them to call.”
After that, “the following year will be a decision point — go or no go,” he said.
As for whatever further changes MLB decides to implement, Manfred is ready for the blowback.
“No matter how good a change turns out to be over the long haul, the first month is gonna be hell on wheels,” Manfred said. “Because the traditionalists are gonna be out after your head. You’ve just got to get ready for that storm and weather it.”
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