MLB again tinkers with pitch clocks, basepaths
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
Major League Baseball’s competition committee approved several rule changes for the 2024 season, including subtracting two seconds from the pitch timer with men on base — from 20 to 18 seconds — while also widening the runner’s lane to first.
Previously, batters had to essentially run on the dirt between the foul line and 3-foot line or be in risk of being called out for interference. Now, that lane will extend to the cut of the infield grass. The distance between the foul line and the infield grass will be between 18 and 24 inches in all parks, with some limited grace periods granted by MLB due to difficulty in modifying the field.
The rest of the changes for 2024 relate to the pace of the game as the league tries to trim time on the margins. MLB said the average nine-inning game increased by seven minutes from April to September last year, the first season with a pitch clock.
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With men on base, pitchers will have 18 seconds instead of 20 to begin their motion to home. However, there won’t be any changes to the clock when the bases are empty. Hurlers will still have 15 seconds to begin their delivery in those situations. According to the league, pitchers began their deliveries with an average of 7.3 seconds remaining on the 20-second timer in 2023.
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Barring an injury, a pitcher who begins to warm up at the start of an inning will now be required to face at least one batter. Previously, they could be replaced during or after warmups. The league said there were 24 instances last season where the pitcher that warmed up between innings was replaced before throwing a pitch — adding approximately three minutes of dead time.
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Mound visits will be reduced from five to four per game as the league said they rank among fans’ least favorite events in baseball. Teams averaged only 2.3 mound visits per game in 2023 while, according to league data, 98% of games last season would not have exceeded a limit of four visits. Umpires will permit defensive players to signal for a mound visit without actually visiting the mound to help improve pace of game there, as well. Teams will still be awarded an extra mound visit for the ninth inning if they’ve used four after eight innings.
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The pitch timer will now reset after a dead ball as soon as the pitcher is given a new one and play is set to resume. He no longer has to be on the mound for the clock to reset, preventing the pitcher’s ability to delay a restart by walking around the edges of it.
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During pitching changes, if the clock is under two minutes as the reliever exits the bullpen and onto the warning track, it will reset back to 2:00 rather than 2:15 as it did last year.
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The league withdrew a proposal to reset the pitch clock as soon as a batter calls a timeout. Umpires will continue to use their judgment as to when the clock starts again.
The competition committee is made up of six owners, four players and one umpire, giving the league a majority vote on any changes. The rules announced Thursday are minor compared to those enacted for 2023 when the pitch timer was introduced in the majors, the shift was banned and the bases were widened. As a result, average game times dropped by 24 minutes.
“From its inception, the Joint Competition Committee’s constructive conversations between players, umpires and owners have produced rules that significantly improved the game for fans,” John Stanton, chairman of the competition committee as well as the Seattle Mariners, said in a statement. “These modifications will improve on last year’s work by the Competition Committee, which was a resounding success with our fans and for the sport.”
Major League Baseball Players Association head Tony Clark said the player representatives voted against the proposal, adding: “As they made clear in the Competition Committee, players strongly feel that, following last season’s profound changes to the fundamental rules of the game, immediate additional changes are unnecessary and offer no meaningful benefits to fans, players, or the competition on the field. This season should be used to gather additional data and fully examine the health, safety, and injury impacts of reduced recovery time; that is where our focus will be.”
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.
In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”
Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.
The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.
Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.
Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.
“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.
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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has committed to Florida, he told ESPN on Sunday, joining the Gators’ 2025 class four days after pulling his pledge from Florida State.
Jones, a four-year starter at Florida’s Mandarin High School, is ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025. After multiple trips to Florida throughout his recruitment, Jones returned to campus Saturday, taking an official visit with the Gators during the program’s 27-16 win over LSU. A day later, Jones stands as the lone quarterback pledge in a 2025 Florida class that includes five pledges from the ESPN 300.
“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones told ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”
Jones was the longest-tenured member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class at Florida State before his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning.
Jones’ exit came days after Norvell announced the firings of three assistant coaches on Nov. 10, including offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Jones was the first Florida State commit to pull his pledge in the wake of the staff shakeup but marked the Seminoles sixth decommitment since the start of the regular season, joining five ESPN 300 recruits who have left Norvell’s recruiting class across the program’s 1-9 start.
Jones’ commitment follows a key late-season victory for Billy Napier on Saturday and marks the Gators’ first recruiting win since athletic director Scott Strickland announced on Nov. 7 that Florida would stick with the third-year coach beyond the 2024 season.
Uncertainty over Napier’s future had weighed down Florida’s recruiting efforts in the 2025 class as the Gators began November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle. But Jones’ pledge comes as a boost for Florida one day after the Gators hosted a handful of high-profile flip targets, including five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge) and four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas pledge).
When Jones signs with Florida, he’ll arrive on campus flanked by fellow in-state offensive talents in four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (No. 115), as well as four-star running back Waltez Clark (No. 223). Florida is also set to sign a pair of in-state defenders from the 2025 ESPN 300 between four-star defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68) and four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121).
With Jones’ commitment, Florida has another jolt to its momentum on the recruiting trail as the Gators seek to chart a strong finish in the 2025 cycle next month. More imminently, Florida will host No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday.
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