WHAT I’M HEARING

• Brendan Rodgers’ recent hot streak is not an accident.

He missed 105 games earlier this year after a shoulder injury in spring training. He has played 43 games since returning, and from the outside, it looks like his stats are rising as he becomes more comfortable. A bat change may be the actual catalyst. Rodgers spent the offseason and spring training swinging custom bats sent to him from equipment maker Marucci. The bats were fitted to him, and slightly heavier than his previous ones.

The struggles came quickly though, and Rodgers’ inability to get his bat around on certain pitches called for change. So, he switched back to a bat made famous by former teammate Randal Grichuk — it resembled the bats Rodgers used growing up, and he made the switch to his teammate’s model. Since switching back to it, he has hit all three of his 2023 home runs, and his batting average has stayed above .300. When asked if he’ll ever switch back, he quickly said “No. I used a certain kind of bat my whole life, and when I got successful, I decided to switch. Never doing that again.”

• Ronald Acuña Jr.’s historic run took a turn Wednesday against Chicago.

He stole his second base of the game, and with it accomplished the league’s first-ever 40-homer, 70-steal season. The historic milestone was not met with positivity by everyone, and the Cubs’ broadcasters took the chance to downplay it.

“Are we really stopping the game for a highlight montage?” the broadcasters asked. “You can’t stop the game for a highlight montage.”

After stealing the base, Acuña lifted the base out of the ground in a pseudo homage to Rickey Henderson after the former Oakland Athletics’ outfielder stole his record 939th career base in 1991. In the background, the club played a video honoring his accomplishment as the game came to a temporary pause.

Baseball’s old-time sensibilities have often tamped down player celebrations and “showing off.” In some ways, it is likely a cause for the sport’s popularity dropping behind other major sports in America.

For Acuña, his 2023 NL Most Valuable Player award will likely mean more than broadcaster’s comments.

WHAT I’M SEEING

• Major League Baseball made multiple rule changes before the year, and instituting a pitch clock was the biggest. Limiting the amount of time both pitchers and batters have between each pitch has shortened games drastically, and popularity is rising because of it.

The league had a record 390 games that went at least three-and-a-half hours in 2021. After the pitch clock, it has had just nine in 2023.

In turn, the league has boasted often this year about record attendance and viewership, especially for weekend series. A new formula for scheduling that enabled more matchups between non-division foes also helps.

The next looming rule change is an automated strike zone. It has been tested in the minor leagues, and despite not being instituted in the majors, is on the verge of appearing. For a sport rooted in tradition, rule changes have helped it enter the spotlight again.