MLB Approves Two Rule Changes for 2025 Season

MLB just tightened up two rules that were causing headaches last season. While they’re not major changes, they’ll definitely affect how teams play the game in 2025.

The first big change? Teams that break the shift rule are going to pay a much steeper price.

Remember those crazy defensive shifts we used to see, with three infielders packed on one side of the field? Those got banned recently. Now teams can only have two infielders on each side of second base when the pitch is thrown.

But some teams were still trying to bend the rules. If an infielder crossed over too early, the batter could either take what happened on the play or get an automatic ball.

That’s about to change in a big way.

Starting next season, if a team breaks the shift rule, the batter automatically gets first base. Not only that – all baserunners move up a base too. The fielder gets charged with an error, and the batter’s at-bat doesn’t even count in the stats.

Talk about playing hardball with the rule breakers.

The second change tackles a clever trick some teams (especially the Yankees) were using last year.

Picture this: Runners on first and third, two outs. Ground ball, force play coming at second base to end the inning. Some teams were telling their runners to just blast right through second base like they would at first base, hoping to beat the throw and let the run score before getting called out.

Pretty sneaky, right?

Well, not anymore. Now replay officials can check if the runner abandoned the baseline before the run scored. If they did, no run for you.

It’s basically MLB’s way of saying “Nice try, but play the game the right way.”

These changes might seem small, but they’re closing loopholes that teams were starting to exploit. Baseball’s always been a game of adjustments – looks like 2025 will be no different.