D-Backs will use bullpen cart in 2018

The Arizona Diamondbacks are waging war against pace of play on their own, and will seek to shorten the time it takes relievers to get to the mound by using a bullpen cart for the upcoming season.

Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall told ESPN's Darren Rovell that the club purchased a pair of golf carts and retrofitted them with oversized hard plastic baseball caps for a total cost of $20,000.

"I think it wore out its welcome," Hall said of the old relics, which played a larger part in baseball from the 1950s until the early 1990s. "There were these new stadiums, and the focus shifted to the guys running through gates and onto the mound. We think the time is right to bring it back."

Bullpen carts became a feasible way to combat growing concerns about pace of play, which were a topic of discussion all offseason and caused some unrest between Major League Baseball and its players' association. The MLBPA reportedly suggested the re-introduction of bullpen carts as a pace-of-play measure during negotiations with commissioner Rob Manfred.

"An ancillary benefit might be that it could speed up the game," Hall continued, adding that he expects many other teams to follow Arizona's lead.