ballnine - Mounds of Hell

 

By Kevin Kernan July 25, 2021

Big changes are coming to baseball come August 3rd, and word is, no one in the Atlantic League is happy with what’s about to go down.

That’s the day the mound will be pushed back a foot to 61 feet, six inches. Good luck, pitchers. Good luck, coaches who have to work with their pitchers. Good luck, catchers adopting to such a change. Hitters, you now have more time to react.

Those who have spent their lifetime in baseball, pitching at 60 feet, six inches, and coaching pitchers at that distance will have to go with the new experimental game, Rob Manfred’s test laboratory.

It figures to be a mound of trouble for the pitchers.

Pitchers already are being tested in this league with the individual league leading ERA being 3.38. The 10th best ERA in the league is 5.40. Yikes. Games are already long, 3:20 per game. This change figures to make longer games with the longer pitching distance and already the total of walks per game are high in the league – at 10.5 per game.

There are eight teams in the league and the league ERA is 5.87. The Long Island Ducks are the only team to have an ERA under 5.00 at 4.71. By the way, the mound has been at its current distance since 1893. No more. If this flies here, will it be coming to the major leagues?

August 3rd is also the day they will get rid of catchers flashing signs to the pitcher, which has been a part of baseball for literally forever, in another experiment in another league. No more fingers flashing, no more of the pitcher staring in for the sign. They will be testing an elaborate experimental electronic transmitting system from catcher to pitcher in the Low A West minor leagues.

“IF MLB REALLY WANTED TO DO THE FIELD OF DREAMS GAME RIGHT, THEY WOULD HAVE NO REPLAY, NO EXIT VELO READOUTS, NO ANYTHING BUT BASEBALL FROM SHOELESS JOE JACKSON’S DAY. JUST HIGHLIGHT THE GAME.”

Just another way to destroy the romance of the game and take away the human element. Catchers will strap a 12-button transmitter to their wrist and pitcher and catcher will have a receiver in their cap and helmet. The Low A West used to be the Cal League before Manfred’s unimaginative minions changed the name in the reimagining of the minor leagues this year that included eliminating dozens of affiliations, and has untold numbers of minor leaguers inexplicably living out of their cars.

One Baseball, indeed.

Way to take care of your most loyal fan base, Commish – the minor league fans. But at least the clubs that survived get to see a lot of experimentation. It will be interesting to see how pitchers and coaches react to moving the mound back one foot. Will injuries increase? Will command decrease? Will it really make a huge difference? We are about to find out as baseball continues its wacky ways.

Change is everywhere.

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