With Opening Day approaching on March 30, MLB has led development on a series of star-driven advertisements that are aimed at educating fans on the new rule changes being implemented by the league this season. A total of six spots -- two lasting 15 seconds, the other four spanning 30 seconds -- are included in the marketing campaign. Seven MLB players -- including Padres P Blake Snell, White Sox SS Tim Anderson, Reds 1B Joey Votto, Yankees P Nestor Cortes, Yankees C Jose Trevino and Mets DH Daniel Vogelbach -- join a pair of celebrities in actor Bryan Cranston and comedian Sebastian Maniscalco in highlighting the rule changes in fun ways. In Vogelbach’s spot, the burly slugger with zero career steals to his name contemplates attempting to swipe a base thanks to the wider bases as Mets manager Buck Showalter looks on in consternation. “Get that shift outta here,” Cranston says in the spot he is featured in before uttering the overarching sentiment MLB is looking to push: “It’s the best game in the world -- now, it’s even better.” MLB created the player spots with production support from Still Films. The celebrity spots were created by MLB with production from Wheelhouse and directed by Jonathan Kimmel. After debuting on social media, the spots will appear across MLB media outlets including MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV; MLB broadcast partners including FOX/FS1, ESPN, TBS and Apple; and across other paid digital media sites.
