40 minutes into a new era of Major League Baseball, Mike Valenti likes what he sees.
"I will tell you, the rules changes, it's not hyperbole, in the first 40 minutes of watching a random MLB game, we got to see all of it pay dividends," Valenti said Thursday on baseball's Opening Day.
MLB is introducing several new rules this season, most notably a pitch clock designed to speed up the pace of the game. The league has also banned defensive shifts, widened the bases and limited a pitcher's number of pickoff attempts to create more action on the base paths.
"The general theme you will see as you listen to the Tigers here on 97.1 The Ticket or watch them, the pace of play feels right," said Valenti. "For instance, Gerrit Cole pitching for the Yankees, it reminded me of (former Tiger) Doug Fister. Every eight to 10 seconds, ball was going to the dish. And it didn't feel rushed. It felt appropriate."
On top of that, Valenti said he "saw a single right up the middle, which you feel like you haven't see in year, and two stolen bases in the first three innings of the game."
"Watching is going to feel different, listening is going to feel different. Every piece of it, we got to see. It's 40 minutes of one game, I'm not telling you they re-invented the sport, but I think it'll be interesting. The rules changes, they work. They basically take 30 minutes off a game," Valenti said.
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