Interpreters are now allowed to join Major League Baseball managers and coaches for mound visits thanks to a rule change approved by the Major League Baseball owners, ESPN is reporting. The move will allow foreign-born pitchers who aren't fluent in English to communicate more openly and effectively with their teammates and coaches.
The cultural barrier in baseball has often not been as steep an adjustment for Spanish-speaking players because of the volume of Latino players on rosters in most levels of American professional baseball. The changes for Japanese and other Asian players have been documented more.
53 Japanese-born players have been or currently are on MLB rosters, including the Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish, Ichiro Suzuki of the New York Yankees and Hiroki Kuroda (also with New York).
There are two other notable rule changes that are expected to be applied for the 2013 season.
The great pickoff debate may be over. Major League Baseball has the power to make a popular pickoff move a balk, as the fake to third base, throw to first base would be deemed illegal. The trick move was outlawed by Baseball's Playing Rules Committee last season, but the MLB Player's Association claimed a temporary veto on the change. MLB can ratify the new rule without the players' approval for 2013, but is reportedly hoping the players will agree to it.
The league is also upping the allowed number of coaches dressed in a dugout during games from six to seven. The move essentially gives teams permission to have two official hitting coaches, which has been an increasingly common occurrence behind the scenes. At least ten teams have had an assistant or additional hitting coach in the last decade, with the number rising in the past couple of seasons. Three National League teams who hired hitting help before last season had significant spikes in offensive performance for 2012 (versus their 2011 totals).
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