MLB Adopts New Rules For Takeout Slides, Pace Of Play

Major League Baseball announced, today, that it has taken steps in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Players Association to change the rules for both takeout slides and pace of play. 

After a season, last year, in which the game saw multiple players suffer season ending injuries due to collisions at second base, most notably Chase Utley's vicious takeout of Mets' shortstop Ruben Tejada in the NLDS, the league was looking to make the game safer for both fielders and runners.

The new rule agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA is designed to do just that. Essentially, the rule, which will now make double play attempts reviewable, says that base runners may still make contact with fielders, but only if they are making a "bona fide" slide into the base.

So what is a "bona fide" slide? According to the league it is as follows:

A "bona fide" slide is defined as one in which the player begins his slide before reaching the base and is able to remain on the base after completion.

So basically, if a runner is deemed to be straying from the path of the base in order to make contact with the fielder to break up the double play, not only will he be out but the batter will be ruled out as well.

Though the play was previously not reviewable, managers will now be able to ask umpires to take a second look.

The league and union also got together on a couple of rule changes that should help speed up the pace of games. 

The first rule change is that managers and coaches who take a trip to the mound, during the course of the game, will now have just 30 seconds to do so.

The second rule change is an adjustment to a new rule from last year.

Last season the league started implementing short time breaks between innings. For nationally televised games, inning breaks lasted two minutes, 45 seconds, while locally televised games had two minutes, 25 seconds between innings.

Those numbers have been trimmed to two minutes, 25 seconds nationally and two minutes, five seconds locally.