One of the significant changes Major League Baseball made ahead of the 2023 season was making the bases bigger. The hope was that bigger bases would encourage more activity from runners.
Through the early part of spring training, that’s exactly what has happened.
Runners are attempting more steals than they did in spring training a year ago and are also succeeding at a higher rate.
2022 MLB spring training:
0.77 steal attempts per team per game
73.0% success rate2023 MLB spring training (through today's games):
1.19 steal attempts per team per game
81.6% success rate— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 5, 2023
The larger bases have kind of flown under the radar during spring training — with the new pitch clock generating most of the attention. Ultimately, though, the wider bases will definitely be worth monitoring.
While the pitch clock will help games get completed in a shorter time, it won’t necessarily bring more action, another frequent complaint. In recent seasons, baseball has become heavily oriented on the true results of walks, strikeouts and home runs. That’s led to a drop in balls being put in play and activity on the bases — such as steals and players trying to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples.
It’s not likely that the true result focus will ever go away, nor should it. But if bigger bases do lead to more activity on them, it could serve as a happy medium. And while a few weeks of spring training doesn’t mean the trend will stick, it’s definitely a step in that direction.
[Codify]
