MLB Wants Pitchers, Batters Ready For Play Sooner Coming Out Of Commercial Breaks

MLB pitchers under a new proposal "would be required to finish their warm-up pitches and be ready to make their first pitch of an inning 30 seconds before the end of all between-inning commercial breaks," according to sources cited by Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Hitters similarly "would have to be in the batter's box, ready to start their at-bats, 20 seconds before the end of each break." Both proposals "are designed to tighten the time between half-innings," which is currently more than three minutes, despite regular-season commercial breaks during locally broadcast games "supposed to last just 2 minutes, 5 seconds." MLB execs "believe that if play is ready to resume moments after each break ends, they could shorten games by 10 to 15 minutes." The MLBPA's response to the league's proposals "isn't known" (ESPN.com, 1/20).