MLB Insider Names Red Sox Starter a Player Hurt the Most by 2023 Rule Changes

The MLB revealed a slew of rule changes earlier this month that'll come into effect once the 2023 season begins. Although some new rules will affect batters, others will play a role in how pitchers perform, including a 15-second pitch clock and bigger bases.

The Athletic's Eno Sarris reports that bigger bases could spell trouble for the slowest Major League pitchers. One player who'll be hurt the most by this change is none other than Boston Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta.

Boston Red Sox News

Beginning in 2023, the size of the MLB's bases will increase from 15 inches to 18 inches. The change was done to reduce injuries, however, it'll also make it slightly easier for the faster players to steal bases, which isn't good news for slower pitchers like Pivetta.

Baseball Savant's pitching breakdown for Pivetta shows how slow he can be at times. While 49.9% of his pitches this year have been fastballs with an average speed of just 93.4mph. He's also thrown 569 sliders (20.4%) with an average speed of 85.7mph while his 766 curveballs (27.5%) clock in around 77.2mph.

Including 60 change-ups thrown, half of Pivetta's pitches this year having been off-speed. In other words, it isn't hard to see how base-runners will take advantage of the new rules when they face him. He's given up a career-high 18 stolen bases this year, so it'll be interesting to see if that increases in 2023.

Nevertheless, Pivetta still has time to work on his pitch speed. With the Red Sox more than likely missing the playoffs, he'll have an early start to the offseason, allowing him to prepare for bigger bases and the challenges they bring.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.