Bryant against new IBB rule, warns of ‘slippery slope’ on changes

MESA, Ariz. — Memo to Major League Baseball:

The National League MVP doesn’t like your new high school-like rule that no longer requires pitchers to throw the ball four times to intentionally walk a batter. Intentional walks now can be signaled from the dugout, sending the batter to first without a pitch thrown.

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant heard about the rule, which goes into effect this season, and he was quick and clear about his distaste for it.

“Anytime you’re not throwing that full effort for a pitcher, it seems like there’s a chance we could do damage on that,” he said. “There’s been plenty of times where a guy’s thrown away an intentional walk.

“I just like to force guys to make a pitch. You’re in the box, you want to force someone to make a pitch. And [four pitches] is an intentional walk. I don’t know. I think the pitchers at this level are good enough they should be able to intentionally walk a guy, and if they can’t, the other team’s going to score.”

Baseball history is filled with examples of passed balls, wild pitches and hits on attempted intentional walks. Just last year, the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez homered against the Rays on an attempted intentional ball. Ty Cobb, Joe Adcock, Bob Boone and Miguel Cabrera (in 2006) are among players who have delivered hits on IBB attempts. Other prominent players have taken swings over the years, including Willie Mays and Pete Rose.

“Exactly,” Bryant said. “Could you imagine — like just the World Series [last year], for example, when [Anthony Rizzo] got intentionally walked [in the 10th inning of Game 7]. I mean, there were a couple that were low. What if the ball got away? That’s huge.

“Especially in that type of situation, Game 7 of the World Series, you want to put pressure on the pitcher any way you can. I think that’s another way it could affect the game. I guess it’s yet to be seen.”

In general, Bryant is against tinkering with the rules of the game, even when it comes to accelerating pace of play, an emphasis of the commissioner’s office.

“The game’s been the same to me since I was young. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” he said. “I think it could be a slippery slope when you start changing all these things.”