MLB plans to emphasize enforcement of balks as changes kick in

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Major League Baseball plans to emphasize enforcement of the balk rule in 2023 as it implements sweeping rules changes, including a pitch clock that will place more focus on the arcane rule, league officials said Tuesday.

«We have slipped a little bit centrally with calling the rulebook illegal pitches and balks,» said Morgan Sword, MLB's executive vice president of operations, at a media briefing to explain the rules in greater depth.

The balk, which is intended to keep pitchers from deceiving runners on base, can be called by umpires for more than a dozen reasons. Balks are assessed only with runners on. Prohibited deliveries with the bases empty are deemed illegal pitches. The import of both is especially acute with the new pitch-timer rule, which mandates a pitcher throw within 15 seconds of receiving the ball with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on. If a pitcher balks, runners advance one base.

Stressing the delivery of legal pitches matters because it coincides with the beginning of a delivery, which is when the pitch clock is supposed to stop. Pitchers who violate the rule are assessed a ball as a penalty. Similarly, if hitters are not in the batter's box and facing the pitcher with 8 seconds left on the clock, they will be given an automatic strike.

Trying to understand what constitutes a balk is tantamount to what makes a catch in the NFL. Umpires called 122 balks in 2022, the fewest in a full season since 1973, with some umpires more vigilant than others. Umpire John Tumpane assessed a major league-record three balks in one at-bat to then-Miami left-hander Richard Bleier during a late-September game. Bleier's three balks tied for the major league lead with left-handed reliever