What Impact will the New Rule Changes have in Major League Baseball?

Larger base size is one of the biggest things coming this year in an effort to improve safety. (AP/Brynn Anderson)

It is not a secret to anyone that Major League Baseball has had a real problem in recent years growing and staying relevant.

In order to combat that, there have been an abundance of rule changes implemented into the Major League rulebook.

These rules have been announced and explained for a while now, so they're not new. But the question is, how are they going to translate into the game?

They have been used in the minors, and the first time that we have seen them in "Big League Play" was in the first few spring training games this weekend.

One of the most important changes is the implementation of the pitch clock. The pitch clock is in an attempt to lower the length of games - and it has succeeded in its first few games.

Obviously it was a small sample size, but it was a serious improvement from how long games were taking before. This was a huge thing that needed to happen for the sake of the sport. For casual baseball fans, the length of the game was the biggest problem. They struggled to sit and watch and entire game when it was three hours long with around half of that being real action.

It isn't even only fans that are casual, but also new fans. People know how long baseball usually takes, and it really brings down the excitement of becoming a fan.

If the games are cut down anywhere between twenty to thirty minutes it will be a huge improvement. Shorter games will immediately bring more attention to them and make more fans interested in watching them.

Looking into the game itself, theres two pretty big changes on the way in. The size of the bases is growing a significant amount, which will improve safety. Situations like a runner stepping on the foot of the first basemen will happen much less with more space for the runner to step.

The other important gameplay change is the elimination of the shift. The rule now does not allow teams to bring their infielders from one side of the infield to the other, which will be beneficial for a lot of hitter in the majors.

The shift has been a big part of baseball for a long time, but things will be changing big time starting in the 2023 season. (Tommy Gilligan/AP)

No more situations of three infielders on the left side will have a huge impact for hitters, especially left handers like Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

These rules are going to have a big difference. There are things that we know will change, but also plenty of things that will come that we have no idea of.

Baseball needed a change, as the game was not growing fast enough compared to its competitors like Basketball and Football.

It's going to take a bit to get used to, but it's definitely for the best. It is exciting to think about and see what is going to come from these changes.