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I could see this going really poorly IRL. For one thing, I could see teams having relievers fake injuries so that they can get quicker pitching changes. If they did it all season long, people would notice, so they would wait for a key late-season game or a playoff game to employ it. For anyone who thinks that teams are above this, I would point towards the Astros' trash cans.
The other thing that I could see is a stream of pinch-hitters. If you know that a relief pitcher has to be left in for three hitters, you might as well send up some hitters who hit with the opposite hand because your opponent cannot make a corresponding move.
Here is a different idea. Let me know what you guys think. What if MLB decided instead that mid-inning relievers need to take all of their warm-up pitches in the bullpen and should be ready to pitch as soon as they come in? This could cut down the length of time that it takes to change pitchers substantially and could even discourage managers from making as many pitching changes since relief pitchers between innings would get warm-up time on the game mound while mid-inning relievers would only get warm-up time on the bullpen mound.
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