Boston Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill clearly isn’t a fan of the new rule changes coming to Major League Baseball next season.
And Hill in a very funny way showed his disapproval for one of the changes — the increased size of the bag — prior to the Red Sox facing the Baltimore Orioles on Friday at Camden Yards.
The 42-year-old southpaw swapped out the third-base bag with what looked like a couch cushion, creating a hysterical visual. Hill even pretended to show how far he could get down the third-base line while keeping a foot on his new “bag.”
Expanding the size of bases was just one of three rule changes the league’s competition committee approved Friday. MLB will also implement a pitch timer along with banning infield shifts.
While Hill was in a joking manner when it came to the new bases, the 18-year veteran took a more serious tone when discussing his disapproval of the rule that will impact him on the mound.
“There’s definitely going to be implications on the integrity of the game. The outcomes are going to be dictated by a clock, which is unfortunate,” Hill told reporters, as seen on NESN’s Twitter. “I’m not the only player who feels strongly about it. I’ve talked with almost everybody in this locker room and nobody likes the ideas of being able to have the game dictated because of a clock.”
One of Hill’s teammates had much harsher words for the changes, but whether the players like them or not, they are coming.
