Blue Jays eager to see impact, subtle and obvious, from new rules in spring opener

DUNEDIN, Fla. — A month of Grapefruit League play that doubles as a crash-course into baseball’s new rules begins Saturday afternoon (1 p.m. ET on Sportsnet) for the Toronto Blue Jays when they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Most everything from subtle to obvious will be impacted by the addition of a 15-second pitch clock, a ban on infield shifting, and expanded bases. Jays manager John Schneider and his coaching staff have made efforts to fast-track the acclimation process a priority.

Even still, intrigue is high around how less than two weeks of drills translates for players in the exhibition opener.

“The thing I'm most curious about — obviously the baserunning stuff is kind of wacky with the two-pick maximum; the pitch clock I don't think is going to make that big a difference at all, at least for me — is guys walking up to the plate,” said utilityman Cavan Biggio. “Guys have a lot of different routines where they like to do their thing, whatever it takes, and that usually is going to have to be sped up because of the pitch clock. But overall, besides the baserunning part of things, it's going to be interesting to see how fast you have to get in the box.”

Whit Merrifield, one of just four players on the 11-person competition committee, will be focused on how umpires manage around the clock.

“I'm not that slow of a worker when I'm hitting but there are times when I like to take that extra second to gather myself, and there are times when you need to,” he said. “For instance, if you foul a ball off your foot, if you hit one that's just foul, that you're busting out of the box trying to get to second, you get back and you've got to catch your breath. Will umpires give us that little bit of understanding and have a little bit of feel for it? That’s going to be a big test.”

It will be one of many. And teams will also closely monitor one another, as well, to see how they attempt to approach everything from pitching rhythms to base-stealing.

The Blue Jays have held nearly daily meetings to go over the ins-and-outs of the rules and the various approaches to them. Pitching coach Pete Walker believes that on the mound, “we can use (the clock) to our advantage.”

“They want to be good at it,” he added. “They don't want to be someone who's struggling with it. So they're all encouraged to embrace it and work at it and get better at it.”

To that end, the Blue Jays have discussed having their pitchers come set by the eight-second mark, when the batter must be in the box alert to the pitcher, and then vary timing from there. They can let the pitch fly the first moment they can, perhaps catching hitters unprepared, or hold the ball for as long as six seconds, which is a long time for the batter to stay ready.

With hitters only able to call time once per at-bat, pitchers can almost fully dictate pace.

“If I'm a pitcher, I'm getting three pitches in my hat, like a football player, to start things off. Like, fastball, slider, fastball,” said Merrifield. “First-pitch fastball, boom. All right, I'm ready for the next pitch. As soon as the hitter looks at me, I'm going, making him use his time out. And now the pitcher's got him beat.”

As infielders, both Merrifield and Biggio also must adjust to the defensive shift rules.

Beyond being forced to have two players on either side of the second base bag, infielders must also start on the dirt, a small tweak for both, as they sometimes positioned themselves on the lip of the grass to help with angles and reaction time.

There will also be less time between pitches to adjust their spots, hitter-to-hitter and pitch-to-pitch.

"Before we were getting our alignment from the dugout and sometimes that might take a little while for them to get from Luis (Rivera, the infield coach) or whatever,” said Biggio. “Now we're going to be working more off a card in our back pocket so we can do it on our own time.”

The Blue Jays used shifts 50.3 per cent of the time last year, third most in the majors, including a big-league high 42.9 per cent of the time against right-handed hitters, underlining how much the organization believes in its data and sought to weaponize it.

Expect them to still seek out ways to leverage that info.

“The shift is such a tricky thing because you're playing percentages and you're trying to project where the ball is going with actual where-the-ball-is-hit data,” said Schneider. “I think you're still going to see a lot of teams almost in a shift with a fielder close to second base for a righty or lefty. That's kind of how we're planning it. We're still going to pay attention to tendencies within the limitations of the rules. It'll be interesting to see how they play. I would be shocked if everyone kind of went to the (circa) 1985 ... third base, shortstop, second base, first base (alignment). I think you're going to see some variations.”

NOTES: Brandon Belt is building up at a slower pace as he comes off late summer knee surgery. “He's doing his normal cage routine,” said John Schneider. “He was doing some defensive stuff in there (Friday), feeling great. Just a little bit behind because of the because of the procedure.” … Catcher Alejandro Kirk’s participation in the World Baseball Classic with Mexico is becoming increasingly unlikely while he remains away from camp awaiting the birth of his child. The Blue Jays have tried to play out the clock but expect to “have clarity (Saturday),” said Schneider. “We're still finalizing some things, but we've been in touch with him every day.” … While there are players irritated by the new rules, Pete Walker believes carrying the right attitude is essential: “It's not changing and everybody realizes that. Our live BPs are giving them a little bit of a taste. But we've had some great group discussions, great meetings about it, so they understand the clock itself and it's just about getting used to it during spring training.”