Kruk played first base for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox from 1986-95. He was also a three-time All-Star. He now serves as a baseball analyst for ESPN.

The former MLB player recently took to Twitter to voice his opinion on some of this season’s new rules. He really hates them.

The new bases

One of the bigger changes to the game this season is the increased size of the bases. While MLB originally implemented the change for player safety and to speed up play, it also has a chance to make the game more entertaining.

The new bases -- which “look like a pizza box,” as Red Sox manager Alex Cora puts it — reduce the distance from home to first base by three inches and first to second by 4.5 inches. It should also cut down on collisions around the bases and the amount of time defenders are stepping on runners.

Bigger bases have already led to more stolen base attempts in the minor leagues, and Freddie Freeman believes the larger bags will give players an opportunity to run the bases more often this season. “If the stolen bases increase and the action gets more exciting, it can’t be all bad,” he says.

Another change is a stricter rule on pitchers’ ability to fake pickoffs and step off the rubber. The rule now says that a pitcher can only disengage twice per plate appearance, and if they do it three times in a row they’re penalized with a balk. That’s designed to prevent pitchers from intentionally giving up the ball on pickoff attempts, but it might also make the game more tactical for fans who don’t enjoy watching their favorite teams try and steal a base.

The new pitch clock

One of the most significant changes Major League Baseball is making this season is the pitch clock, which gives pitchers a certain amount of time to throw each at-bat. If they don't get the ball in play by that point, an automatic strike is called.

The new rule aims to reduce the length of games and make them more exciting on a pitch-by-pitch basis. So far, it seems to be working. The average spring training game this week was 23 minutes shorter than last year's average, and the pace of play has picked up significantly as a result of the clock.

That's good news for fans who want more action in their baseball experience, and it's also a good thing for pitchers. The top-notch stuff being thrown across the game right now is so electric that hitters are incentivized to sell out and hope for a mistake to drive them to home, and that may tip the competitive scales back toward the pitching staff.

But there's a lot more to come in terms of how the new rules impact the game, and we won't know for sure how effective or not they are until the regular season starts. And as for the Braves' Cal Conley, well, he wasn't exactly happy about getting called out in the bottom of the ninth with a full count and bases loaded.

The new umpires

If there is a single MLB rule change that has most fans apoplectic, it’s the new one that allows umpires to call balks when pitchers disengage from the mound too many times. This is intended to cut down on the number of long stretches of inactivity in games, and it appears to have worked. The average game last year lasted three hours and six minutes, down from the high of 3:21 in 2021.

The rule, which went into effect on Thursday, is a part of a package of changes meant to speed up the game and encourage more action on the bases. The other major changes include larger bases (the dimensions were increased from 15 inches square to 18 inches square) and a ban on the defensive shift, which involves placing infielders on either side of second base.

MLB’s rules committee is looking at additional changes, including one that would allow a player to be called for interference if the catcher and batter’s shoes touch while a fielder’s glove is in play. That could be especially troublesome for catcher Mike Zunino, who argues that his shoe will often come into contact with the shin guard of an opposing player.

This is one of the rules that caused NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Kruk to freak out this week. When he watched the Phillies host the Diamondbacks, he saw first base umpire Jim West apply this rule from 90 feet away and charge the Phillies’ Phil Bump with an interference call when Bump tapped Suzuki’s knee pad.

The new batting practice

During the regular season, MLB teams play half of their games on the road, which means hitters are often forced to face starting pitchers’ mid-90s heat and filthy breaking balls during batting practice. That is, if they get to hit in the first place. And that isn’t even counting BP before interleague games.

Thankfully, it appears the league is doing something about the issue. Starting this season, teams will be required to have all infielders on the field with two players on either side of second base at the time of a pitch, regardless of whether there are runners on base or not. Those defensive positioning rules will also apply in extra innings, as well as during postseason games.

Another change that will affect hitters is the new pitch clock. Pitchers will have 15 seconds to throw a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on first, and if they don’t get the ball over the plate in that window they’ll be issued an automatic strike.

And then there are the larger bases. The traditional 15-inch squares are being replaced with 18-inch squares, shortening the distance between first and second by 3 inches and that between third and home by 4. In addition, a runner will be allowed to steal more than one base per plate appearance now, and pitchers will be limited to just two pickoff attempts in any given plate appearance.