Minor League Baseball has announced the institution of some new pace-of-play rules for the 2019 season.
The rule and procedure changes will begin at the start of the 2019 Minor League Baseball season on April 4, according to a release.
The rule changes will include any substitute pitcher being required to face three batters, a decrease of mound visits from 7 to 5, and new extra innings rules that will begin an inning with a runner on second base.
Some of these rules were also instituted in the Independent Atlantic League as part of an experimental agreement with MLB.
Those changes are far more extreme than the ones instituted in the Atlantic League, but are representative of a change of thinking across the landscape of baseball.
