A faster-paced game with more action is exactly what MLB hoped for with its myriad rule changes, and so far it’s exactly what it has gotten.
Major League Baseball’s new rules are working as hoped through the first four days of the season.
The average game time has dropped by 30 minutes, stolen bases have doubled, and batting average has increased by 16 percentage points compared to last year’s opening weekend.
Games averaged 2 hours, 38 minutes through Sunday with the new pitch clock, down from 3:08 for the first four days of the 2022 season and a 3:04 final average.
In the first year of restrictions on defensive shifts, the .246 batting average for nine-inning games was up from .230 over the first four days last year, when many games were played in cold and wet weather. Left-handed batting average increased to .232 from .229 in last year’s first four days and right-handed average went up to .254 from .230.
“We are extremely pleased with the early returns,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday. “Fan reaction has been positive to the brisker pace with more action. And players have made a great adjustment to the changes.”
[…]
MLB felt it was about time for drastic change after the average time of nine-inning games rose from 2:33 in 1981 to 2:46 in 2005 and a record 3:10 in 2021. With the introduction of the PitchCom electronic device to signal pitches, the average dropped to 3:04 for the full 2022 season.
Over objections from players, the 11-man competition committee adopted a pitch clock of 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. It also required two infielders to be on either side of second base and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Players supported increasing bases to 18-inch squares from 15-by-15, proposed as a safety measure.
These were the most significant rules changes since the pitcher’s mound was lowered from 15 inches to 10 for the 1969 season and the American League adopted the designated hitter in 1973, a rule that was extended to the National League in 2022 following its temporary use during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.
“There’s a lot more action and a lot more appealing product for the fans,” Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said.
The clock has had a noticeable impact, with Colorado–San Diego taking 2:03 on Sunday, Cleveland-Seattle 2:04 on Saturday and the New York Mets-Miami 2:09 on Friday.
“I don’t think it’s wrong to take a semi-victory lap right now,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said, “but we’ll see how it evolves.”
I for one approve of the changes. There have been pitch clocks in place in the minor leagues for several years now, so quite a few current MLB players have experienced them. I suspect that has helped minimize the negative effects; the number of pitch clock violations is already low, and based on what we saw in spring training it should trend down over the year. I will note that in the minor leagues, there was also a large initial drop in game times with the introduction of the pitch clock, but over the course of several years after that the times crept back up to nearly what they had been before. I think as long as MLB enforces the rule – there were some issues with that in the minors – there shouldn’t be too much regression. But it will be worth watching.
As for the jump in stolen bases, Fangraphs goes deeper into the numbers. I think we will begin to see more steal attempts over time, as the slower runners begin to try their luck, and with that the success rate will start to fall a bit. While I think the basic pitch clock as it now is will stay the same, it won’t surprise me to see further tinkering with the bases and the pickoff rules and the shift restrictions. Once you’ve opened those cans, they’re not going to close up.