MLB Rule Changes to Promote Offense Revealed for Experiments During Fall League

MLB is reportedly exploring ways to increase offensive production with some new rules for the Arizona Fall League.

Per David Brandt of the Associated Press, the league is experimenting with "restricting the positioning of outfielders on every at-bat."

"The idea is that making outfielders play straight up — instead of adjusting for individual hitters' tendencies — will lead to more doubles and triples," Brandt explained.

Brandt noted that infielders "also have new positioning requirements when there are no runners on base, limiting how much they can shift for a hitter's tendencies."

The 2026 postseason has highlighted the lack of offensive production, as pitchers have been able to dominate from the mound. According to Brandt, teams have combined for a .216 batting average through 37 playoff games this year. New rules that debuted in 2023, like the pitch clock, did little to improve offensive numbers.

"Game times are about 25 minutes shorter and stolen bases are up, but batting average (.243 in 2022 and .244 in 2026), runs per game (4.28 in 2022, 4.48 in 2026) and hits per game (8.16 in 2022, 8.20 in 2026) haven't changed much," Brandt explained.

The Arizona Fall League has become MLB's hub for testing potential rule changes. The AFL had experimented with the Automated Ball-Strike system long before it debuted in the majors this year. Brandt noted that MLB "declined official comment on the most recent experiment, and any change to big-league rules would still be years away."

MLB's attempts to move the game forward have yet to pay off, but this latest idea could help to achieve the goal of raising offensive statistics.