Major League Baseball has once again teamed with the independent Atlantic League to test rule changes designed to keep starting pitchers in the game longer and create more balls in play.
In the second half of Atlantic League play this summer, starting Aug. 3, the pitching rubber will be moved back 1 foot -- to 61 feet, 6 inches -- giving hitters more time to react to pitches, according to a release by MLB on Wednesday.
With strikeout rates increasing for 15 consecutive years, MLB determined that the additional foot would be the "minimum interval needed to evaluate a change in mound distance.