When USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported last May on the league’s planned pitcher limit, he noted that MLB “has hopes of further reducing it in future years”-potentially to 12 pitchers, or “maybe even 11 in ensuing years.” It’s not a new idea, but it’s one whose time has come. And the limbo bar could-and, I’ll argue, should-be lowered from there. Barring further postponements, the limit will drop to 13 four weeks later, on May 30, which will actualize a long-delayed provision originally scheduled to take effect in 2020. And once in place, the 14-pitcher limit can and will lead to less lenient caps. On the other hand, any fine print about positional constraints is unprecedented: Roster sizes have fluctuated from century to century and decade to decade, but at no point have league rules imposed any position-based checks on how teams could apportion the space on their roster. A ceiling so high can barely be called a limit most teams probably wouldn’t regularly roster more pitchers than that even if they could. That’s enough for a five-starter rotation and nine relievers, or six starters and eight bullpen arms. This restriction is both conservative and groundbreaking-one small step for each team, one giant leap for the league.
(In 2020, when the active roster size was first slated to expand from 25 to 26, teams were ultimately permitted to carry 28 players throughout the pandemic-shortened 60-game season.) No, the new part is this: Starting today, teams are allowed to roster no more than 14 pitchers. That’s not the new part rosters were capped at 26 players last season, too. In deference to this season’s lockout-compressed spring training, MLB teams were allowed to carry 28 active players through May 1, but as of Monday the maximum is 26. It’s a potential panacea that you might not notice if you haven’t read the rule. In the long term, it may provide a template for fixing most of the aesthetic and stylistic problems facing the sport. In the short term, it should have little effect on the field. On Monday, Major League Baseball enacted a new rule that’s simultaneously subtle and profound.
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