When the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico season begins in October, the clock will be ticking.
Ticking down towards the return of the Caribbean Series to Mexico for a third straight year, yes, but also ticking down for each pitch, as the league has instituted the pitch clock for the 2026-27 season, along with several other rule changes that have been implemented in Major League Baseball and elsewhere over the past few seasons.
Next year, pitcher disengagements – when a pitcher either steps off the rubber or makes a pick-off move while there is a runner or runners on base – will be limited, as will defensive shifts. Relievers coming into a game will have to face a minimum of three batters, and a pitch clock will limit the amount of time a pitcher has to deliver the next pitch after receiving the ball on the mound. The league announced the rules changes this week, but did not say whether the rules will mirror those implemented by MLB and its affiliated minor leagues and elsewhere.
In 2023, MLB made three major rules changes to limit disengagements, limit defensive shifts, and to use a pitch clock. Since 2023, when a runner or runners are on base, a pitcher is limited to two disengagements. A third disengagement will result in a balk call unless the disengagement results in an out.
To limit defensive shifts, the fielding team must have two infielders positioned on either side of second when the pitch is released, and when a pitcher has the ball on the rubber, all four infielders must have both feet within the infield.
Once the pitcher has received the ball on the mound, he has 15 seconds to deliver the next pitch if the bases are empty and 20 seconds with runners on base. The batter gets one timeout per plate appearance and must be in the batter’s box with eight seconds left on the pitch clock. A pitch clock violation by the pitcher results in an automatic ball, while a pitch clock violation by the batter results in an automatic strike.
The LAMP has not announced the use of the Automatic Ball/Strike Challenge system, which will be in use in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the country’s summer league, for the 2026 season.
Photo: Touki Toussaint, shown here pitching for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, will have to work with a pitch clock in the 2026-27 Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico season. (Photo courtesy of the LAMP)
