Mound visits without pitching changes averaged 3.79 per game through Sunday, down from 7.41 in '17GETTY IMAGES
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that he is "encouraged by pace-of-play changes that have limited mound visits and reduced the time between innings at major league games this season," according to Ian Harrison of the AP. Manfred yesterday said that the new rules have "sped up games without any disruption." Mound visits without pitching changes "averaged 3.79 per game through Sunday, down from 7.41" for the '17 season. Manfred: "Whenever you change a rule in baseball, people predict all sorts of dire outcomes, and we have avoided even the smallest of incidents related either to the mound visit rule or the shorter inning breaks." Meanwhile, Manfred said he was "not in a position" to say for certain "whether or not we're going to have pitch clocks at the big league level." Manfred also "spoke about the number of games postponed by poor weather so far." Rays-Orioles and Tigers-Pirates yesterday were rained out, "bringing the total postponements this season to 28." However, Manfred said that the solution "isn't as simple as scheduling early-season games in domes and warm-weather cities." Manfred: "We will do everything possible to try to schedule in a way that minimizes weather damage. It's in our interest to do that. But there are real limitations in the schedule" (AP, 4/24).
HEADED BACK NORTH? In Toronto, Richard Griffin notes Manfred yesterday was also "asked about the recent change of mayors in Montreal, from the baseball-friendly Denis Coderre, who had once traveled to New York to meet the commissioner," to more of a "soccer fan in Valerie Plante." He was asked whether the change "has affected any hopes for the return of the Expos." Manfred "revealed that he has plans to meet" with a proposed ownership group led by local businessman Stephen Bronfman later in the spring in N.Y., but "judging by his words it seems baseball in Montreal is still a long time from coming." Manfred: "I will say that certainly some of the public statements that have been made suggest that they've made progress, but I haven't had a chance to evaluate those statements in person" (TORONTO STAR, 4/25).
