The Houston Astros cheating scandal continues to suck up all the oxygen, mostly because the Astros' fervent belief that they are allowed to dictate at least some terms of the story.
Carlos Correa probably should've quit when he delivered the most human of responses after the ill-conceived press conference. Instead, he went back on the attack against Cody Bellinger, and in the process showed that he doesn't understand the whole "benefit of the doubt" concept, either.
If the Astros weren't stoking their own immolation, you might be hearing about some of the new rules Major League Baseball is putting into effect this season.
We'll take some time to go through them over the next few days, and we can start with a couple rule changes we discussed last year. The three-batter minimum and the extended injured list duration for pitchers were floated in recognizable forms around this time last year, and we can update our assessment of the way the White Sox might be affected by sizing up how Rick Renteria managed in his third year.
Three-batter minimum
The official verbiage:
The Official Baseball Rules have been amended to require the starting or any relief pitcher to pitch to a minimum of three batters, including the batter then at bat (or any substitute batter), until such batters are put out or reach base, or until the offensive team is put out, unless the substitute pitcher sustains injury or illness which, in the umpire crew chief’s judgment, incapacitates him from further play as a pitcher. The three-batter minimum will become effective in 2020 Spring Training beginning on Thursday, March 12th.
I reviewed Renteria's overreliance on one-batter relievers when a number of these rules were first proposed last spring. Back then, it was hard to say how it would affect Renteria's mindset because he handled his bullpens quite differently in each of his first two seasons.
Renteria found middle ground in Year Three. Thanks in large part to Aaron Bummer, while Renteria again used more one-batter relievers than the average American League team, he fell back into the pack this year. The White Sox was merely part of a group of teams that tended to indulge themselves, while the rest of the league thought it gauche.
Here's the updated chart, which shows three AL teams ahead of Renteria when it comes to OOGY usage with 25-man rosters. In the National League, the White Sox would've been the median.
| AL | Total | Sept. | First 5 | NL | Total | Sept. | First 5 |
| TBR | 47 | 9 | 38 | CHC | 56 | 16 | 40 |
| MIN | 41 | 5 | 36 | ARI | 61 | 22 | 39 |
| CLE | 43 | 8 | 35 | MIL | 41 | 5 | 36 |
| CHW | 41 | 8 | 33 | WAS | 41 | 5 | 36 |
| OAK | 40 | 9 | 31 | ATL | 45 | 11 | 34 |
| DET | 38 | 8 | 30 | STL | 45 | 11 | 34 |
| KCR | 32 | 8 | 24 | PHI | 44 | 10 | 34 |
| TEX | 23 | 4 | 19 | CIN | 36 | 3 | 33 |
| HOU | 21 | 3 | 18 | LAD | 43 | 15 | 28 |
| TOR | 28 | 10 | 18 | MIA | 45 | 17 | 28 |
| BAL | 25 | 7 | 18 | NYM | 37 | 14 | 23 |
| NYY | 27 | 9 | 18 | PIT | 29 | 6 | 23 |
| BOS | 32 | 17 | 15 | COL | 36 | 13 | 23 |
| LAA | 28 | 16 | 12 | SFG | 37 | 20 | 17 |
| SEA | 15 | 5 | 10 | SDP | 19 | 5 | 14 |
| AL AVG | 32.1 | 8.4 | 23.7 | NL AVG | 41.3 | 11.8 | 29.5 |
| w/o Sox | 33.3 | 8.6 | 24.6 |
And if you just want to compare him to his personal past:
- Renteria, 2019: 33 one-batter outings before September
- Renteria, 2018: 50 one-batter outings before September
- Renteria, 2017: 27 one-batter outings before September
He's no longer an extreme case that inspires non-White Sox writers to marvel at his willingness to play matchups, and with the bullpen returning largely intact -- Steve Cishek is the only new face -- it doesn't seem like he should find himself jonesing for mound visits.
What he might find himself doing instead is waving opposing batters to first base ...
... and that will be the category worth monitoring next year. He led all American League managers with 30 intentional walks in 2019, and according to The Bill James Handbook 2020, only 16 of them led to positive outcomes.
15-day injured list, option minimums for pitchers
In concert with the three-batter minimum, Major League Baseball is also trying to discourage the manipulation of bullpens by making pitchers stay out of the mix longer than position players.
Clubs may not reinstate pitchers or Two-Way Players from the Injured List until 15 days have elapsed from the date of the initial placement for such injury – an increase from 10 days. In addition, the option period for pitchers will be lengthened from 10 days to 15 days.
We talked about this last year when the return to the 15-day IL was floated, although we didn't incorporate an extension of the minimum option. Either way, the White Sox didn't manage their roster in such a way that seized this loophole, in large part because they lacked the roster depth to make use of it.
The Sox did recall a number of pitchers in less than a fortnight over the course of the season, but not because the Sox were trying to keep their bullpen fresh. In fact, only one of the six roster maneuvers wouldn't be allowed.
- Carson Fulmer was recalled after nine days in April due to Lucas Giolito's hamstring strain.
- Jose Ruiz, recalled after 12 days in May because Manny Bañuelos hurt his shoulder.
- Speaking of which, Manny Bañuelos spent 10 days on the injured list in May.
- Ruiz was recalled after six days due to Ryan Burr's torn UCL.
- Dylan Covey was recalled after six days in early August due to Fulmer's strained hamstring.
- Ruiz was recalled after 10 days in August because Jace Fry went on the paternity list.
No. 3 is the only one that wouldn't fall within the 2020 rules, because Bañuelos would've had to stay on the injured list another five days. Things like injuries to other players, paternity/bereavement list stays and doubleheaders still allow a pitcher to return before the option period is up, although given that 15 days means an extra turn through a rotation, teams won't be as cavalier about it anymore.
For the White Sox, they never really tried to exploit the vulnerabilities of the more forgiving injured list arrangement the way the Dodgers and Rays perfected the craft. Then again, when you see the pitchers they called up time and time again, attempting to game the system would have only left them playing themselves.
