Baseball purists just lost their minds.
If someone ever ask you “how many ways can a batter reach first base?,” you just might be adding another way to make it happen in the future.
Major League Baseball will allow hitters in the Atlantic League to steal first base during the second half of the Atlantic League season, according to the Washington Post.
Major League Baseball partnered together with the Atlantic League back in February. If any of those ideas stick, MLB could consider adopting them in the future.
Here’s how it would work:
In the second half of the season, the league will allow batters to steal first base: Any pitch on any count not caught in flight will be considered a live ball, and a batter may run to first base, similar to a dropped third strike.
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So, on any ball dropped by the catcher, a runner can attempt to steal first base.
If this rule ever gets adopted by MLB, it could drastically change the value of certain players who have top speed, as they would be coveted more by teams.
Yet, there is no guarantee that this would happen as MLB has also experimented with moving the mound back and automated strike zones during the Atlantic League 2019 season.
