Major League Baseball and the league’s players union on Thursday announced the approval of several major new rules, including the introduction of a no-pitch intentional walk and a time limit on a manager’s ability to challenge a play. Under the new rules, which will take effect this upcoming regular season, a manager can simply signal an intentional walk to the umpire rather than having a pitcher throw four pitches outside the strike zone to put the batter on-base. Additionally, managers will have 30 seconds to decide whether to challenge a play for review.
