The Manfred era

Commissioner Rob Manfred has overseen more than a dozen significant rule changes in a little over a decade — the pitch clock, the shift ban, the ABS challenge system, the extra-innings runner, the three-batter minimum, the pickoff limit. Among the major sports, baseball has always been the most tied to tradition, but under Manfred the game has jumped forward. Let’s recap the big moves under his tenure.

On the clock: With the pitch clock, games are now 24 minutes shorter. And MLB didn't just impose it: it was tested in the Atlantic League, then the minor leagues, then the majors. That's the right sequence. If you weren't quite in on baseball before and you're vaguely curious now, the two-and-a-half-hour game is the one that gets you to try. This one was right.

Shifty business: When it comes to the shift ban, the results are murkier. Independent analysis suggests the ban hasn't meaningfully increased hit rates — and when you watch a game, you can see why. Teams are still finding ways to shade heavily toward the pull side within the rules. Outfielders still play so deep that warning-track doubles become routine outs. The spirit of the rule — more athletes moving, more balls finding gaps — hasn't been fully realized. If the next iteration of this rule restricts outfielder movement we might start to see the intended results.

The ABS verdict: Allowing both teams to challenge ball and strike calls has been perhaps the biggest change. Umpires have handled it with more grace than anticipated. Pitch framing has adapted in real time. The legitimate debate now is whether two challenges is enough — the argument for three is that teams are still too gun-shy about using them. There's also a developing concern that pitchers are becoming more philosophically comfortable with walks, treating them as the best bad outcome when the zone is contested. But as a first implementation of robot umps in the major leagues, it has worked.

The disengagement debate: This doesn't get talked about enough. The pickoff limit changed the entire strategy layer between pitcher, runner, and catcher — not just stolen base rates, but the dance itself. Every sequence on the basepaths now exists in a context where the third pickoff attempt carries consequences. Teams have mostly stopped attempting it. This will be exploited eventually. When it happens, it'll be one of the more interesting wrinkles to watch.

Snap judgment: MLB attendance is tracking toward its fourth consecutive year of growth in 2026. Games are shorter and arguably more fun. Some things need further tweaks, but the overall picture is of a sport that took its product seriously and wasn’t afraid to make big changes. If you had told a 2015 fan that Manfred would make fifteen-plus significant rule changes in a decade, they'd have been furious. Looking at the results? Most of them were the right calls.