Minimal 2025 rule changes as MLB preps for ABS system
Employees operate workstations during a tour inside the broadcast support room at Major League Baseball headquarters in New York on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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I would be interested in having it in 2026.”
Rob Mandred, MLB Commissioner, on the possibility on an automated ball-strike system
While the past few years have seen several big rule changes in Major League Baseball — most notably the pitch clock, the instant replay challenge and tweaks to how extra-innings games are played — 2025 isn’t expected to see any major changes as the league works to implement an automated ball-strike challenge system in the future.
After cutting game times significantly the past two years with the implementation of the pitch clock, only a few small tweaks are on the table for the upcoming season. And they really don’t have anything to do with the actual rules of the game.
Scheduling
Major League Baseball released its 2025 schedule on July 18, 2024. As usual, there are 162 games scheduled for all teams, but the scheduling formula was modified this season to increase the number of games between “prime” interleague rivals from four to six, playing two three-game series instead of two two-game series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs are scheduled to open the season at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on March 18-19. Opening Day in the U.S. is planned for March 27 except for the Colorado Rockies and the Tampa Bay Rays, rescheduled to March 28 because of work being done at the Rays’ temporary grounds Steinbrenner Field. The Rays have relocated due to damage to Tropicana Field caused by Hurricane Milton.
Once interleague play gets going, May 16-18 has been designated as “Rivalry Weekend” and will feature 11 series between the so-called “prime” interleague rivals.
The 95th All-Star Game will be played on July 15, hosted by the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Cumberland, Georgia.
Specialty games include the Braves and Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on Aug. 2 while the MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, will be played on Aug. 17 between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Mets.
Relocation/Renaming
The Athletics will temporarily relocate from Oakland to West Sacramento, California, for at least three seasons before permanently moving to Las Vegas. The team will be branded as the Athletics, with no city name attached.
The team will play at Sutter Health Park from 2025 to 2027 with an option for 2028 while their new ballpark in Las Vegas is under construction.
Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, was renamed to Rate Field during the offseason as part of a rebrand. Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, was renamed to Daikin Park after Japanese air conditioning manufacturer Daikin bought the naming rights.
Uniforms
Major League Baseball will make two changes related to its uniforms over the course of the next two seasons, the league announced in September.
The first change will have players return to wearing their primary home and road uniforms at the All-Star Game this season. MLB has decided that players will once again represent their “hometown” teams for the game itself, as was the case from the 1930s through 2019.
Changes are also in the works for overall home and road team uniforms beginning in 2025 and will include pant customization, increasing the sizing of the lettering and returning to previously used materials that the players requested.
The Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins will each debut a new City Connect design. Uniform changes will begin this year and will be fully implemented by the start of the 2026 season.
ABS system
Meanwhile, a move toward more accurate ball-strike calls is moving forward.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league plans to test its automated ball-strike system beginning with the 2025 spring session.
“I would be interested in having it in 2026,” Manfred said in a release.
The system will not be implemented into every spring training ballpark, but every team would get the chance to play with it this spring.
MLB has used an automated strike zone in the minors since 2019 with two types of systems. One system is used by umpires on every pitch while the other system gives teams two or three challenges per game.
According to MLB.com, the league plans to give teams two challenges during 2025 spring training games and teams will retain their challenges if they are successful.
Before possibly implementing the system in 2026, Manfred said he would take both player and team perspectives into account.
Golden at-bat rule
One potential change that had fans excited appears to be on hold.
In December, Manfred addressed the idea of a “golden at-bat” rule where MLB teams, once per game, could send any hitter to the plate regardless of where they were in the batting order. The topic gained traction earlier in 2024 when Manfred said during the World Series “there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting.”
Manfred, who admitted he isn’t a fan of the “golden at-bat” idea, said any potential change related to the rule would be a long way off.
“If you don’t like the idea, I wouldn’t be that concerned about it right now,” the commissioner said.
Matt Loeschman has had two separate stints at Independent Newsmedia. He began as a reporter covering Peoria and later Surprise from 2000-2009. In 2017, he returned to Arizona and INI as the news editor of the Daily News-Sun (now the Phoenix Independent). He previously covered the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League for more than a decade.
Community: During high school football season since 2017, he contributes live postgame radio reports to the AzPreps 365 Friday Night Football Wrapup Show. He supports organizations such as Phoenix Children’s, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Valley and the American Cancer Society.
Education: The University of Texas at Austin majoring in Journalism-News and Public Affairs.
Random Fact: He can sing and he has been fortunate to meet many famous people during his journalism career including First Lady Hillary Clinton, King of Country Music George Strait and Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey. Attended all 4 home games of the 2001 World Series.
Hobbies: Watching and playing a wide variety of sports, including golf, tennis, pickleball and softball. Playing PlayStation 5, working out, shopping and reading.
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