Major League Baseball has implemented some rule changes for the 2023 season that will feel pretty radical to a good number of people. Perhaps the most controversial is the pitch clock. Yes, the sport that has long been known for its avoidance at using clocks will now have one on every single pitch.
A summary of the rule:
The clock is 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base
The clock starts when the pitcher catches the ball from the catcher and the clock runs until the pitcher starts his delivery (not when he releases the ball)
The batter must step in the box and be ready to hit with at least eight seconds left on the clock
Violations by the pitcher are an automatic ball and by the hitter are an automatic strike
A hitter gets one timeout per plate appearance
A pitcher gets two “disengagements” per batter. This is either stepping off or a pickoff attempt. A third disengagement would result in a balk. The disengagement count resets if a runner advances, such as with a stolen base, balk, wild pitch or passed ball
It’ll be an adjustment for everyone involved and there will likely be growing pains early in the regular season. We’ve already seen a few high-profile violations in spring training, but for the most part it’s running fine. We’ve already taken a look at which pitchers might be most affected.
The three highest seasons in MLB history in average time of a game played were 2019, 2020 and 2021 (the leader at 3:10). It dropped down to 3:03 last year, but that’s still the fifth-longest in league history (2017 was fourth). We’ve already seen a drastic cut in the time of the game in spring training action, though it’ll increase some in the regular season once there are full commercial breaks.
While cutting down on the time of the game has been a big issue in particular for commissioner Rob Manfred, one of the main reasons for the clock itself is to cut out downtime where a pitcher is just holding the ball for long stretches of time or a batter stands outside the batter’s box for upwards of 20-30 seconds. Essentially, the goal is to cut out the time watching players doing nothing at all without cutting out any of the actual baseball. Even if the time of game isn’t decreased significantly, we’ll presumably be watching a lot more action instead of inaction.