Per Eric Logenhagen of FanGraphs, Major League Baseball will be testing several potential future rule changes in the minors this year, including one that fans may recognize from spring training: starting pitcher reentry.
Starting Pitcher Re-Entry
This new rule would allow a pitcher to re-enter the game after being removed. There are three important caveats to this rule:
- Only the starting pitcher may re-enter the game after being removed from it.
- The removed starting pitcher may only re-enter the game at the beginning of the inning following removal and may only re-enter the game once.
- To be eligible for re-entry, the starting pitcher must throw at least 25 pitches in the inning during which he is removed.
For the 2026 season, this will only be in use for Arizona Complex League, Florida Complex League, and Dominican Summer League games. The current goal of this rule seems to be to improve the health and development of young pitchers. He wrote, “Rookie ball youngsters can struggle to throw strikes, which frequently has a knock-on effect on the rest of the pitching staff, and those impacts tend to snowball. It’s increasingly common for Complex-level games to get out of hand and force position players to work an inning or two, and those innings turn into unwatchable pseudo-baseball with very little developmental value.”
It is unclear if the plan would be to ever bring this to the major leagues or if this will exist solely in the low minors.
Check Swing Adjudication
During the 2025 season, MLB launched a pilot program in the minor leagues for a “replay system for check swings”. This took place in the Florida State League after previously being tested in some Arizona Fall League Games. Check swings under this system are based on whether or not a swing passes the “45-degree mark”. The pitcher, hitter, or catcher can challenge a check swing call, and similar to ABS, each team has two challenges that can be lost throughout the game.
This new challenge check swing system is being expanded to the Pacific Coast League for the 2026 season, starting on May 5, 2026. In the International League, there will not be any challenges, but umpires have been instructed, starting on May 5, that they are expected to make check swing calls based on the 45-degree mark.
Automatic Balls and Strikes
The Pacific Coast League, International League, and Florida State League will now all use the automatic balls and strikes rules used in the majors. Teams have been encouraged to submit height measurements for position players who were not measured during spring training in 2025 or 2026.
Pitch Clock Changes
Starting in the 2026 season, in Triple-A, addressing PitchCom issues will use up a mound visit. If the team does not have any remaining mound visits and the team wants to address the issue, a pitch clock violation will be called, and the batter will be awarded a ball.
At all levels, when the catcher leaves their position to give defensive signals, the clock will no longer stop. If they are not back in their position with at least nine seconds on the clock, a violation will be called, and the batter will receive a ball. These rule changes are being made to help improve the pace of play and cut out “dead space” in the game.
Second Base Position and Baserunning Change
In the second half of the season, in the International League, the position of second base will be changed slightly. It will be placed entirely within the perimeter of the infield, which will move it nine inches closer to both second and third base.
This is being done to “encourage more action on the bases” after stolen base attempts fell from 80.2% in 2025 to 77.8% in 2026.
Another baserunning change is that if an umpire determines a baserunner comes into contact with a fielder to deliberately create an obstruction play on the fielder, interference would be called on the runner. This is done to close a loophole where baserunners would try to get a free base by creating collisions and attempting to make it look as if the fielder caused the issue.
Batter Timeouts
In Double-A and Triple-A, when a batter requests time, the home plate umpire will signal time has been granted, and the clock will stop.
In High-A, batters will only be able to call time when runners are on base. The only exceptions are if there is an injury concern, the batter was brushed off the plate, or there was a bona fide equipment issue.
In Single-A, batters will not be able to call time except for the exceptions described for High-A.
Disengagement Limit
In Double-A, the disengagement limit will be lowered from two disengagements by the pitcher to one. When there is a runner on base and a pitcher disengages a second time and all runners return to base safely, all runners will advance a base. The disengagement limit resets either when the plate appearance ends or when a runner advances to another base.
Base Coach Positioning
Base coaches at all levels of the minor leagues must stand in their designated positions and minor league umpires will be tasked with ensuring coaches comply with the rules at all times, not only when the opposing manager voices their complaint.
