The average time of a nine-inning game in a full season has not been under 2:45 since 1986. Now, on the first day of the pitch clock in the MLB regular season, the average game time decreased 26 minutes compared to Opening Day the year prior. In advance of instituting the pitch clock for the 2023 regular season, MLB introduced the pitch clock in spring training this year and saw average game times decrease 26 minutes compared to 2022 spring training. It expanded the pitch clock to all levels of the minors in 2022 and saw the average game time decrease by 25 minutes. MLB introduced the pitch clock at Low-A West in 2021 and saw the average time of nine-inning games shortened by 21 minutes. While it was just one day, and an early-season one with teams throwing their best starters at that, Thursday’s results nonetheless marked another promising data point in MLB’s pursuit of shorter game times. There's obviously going to be hiccups here and there, but I thought we did a good job of getting in the box on time and getting the pitch off on time.” “ … Being able to do it in the spring, I think everyone's used to it for the most part. “I think we're used to it by now,” said Dodgers rookie outfielder James Outman, who also played with the pitch clock at Triple-A last year. And even with the violations pausing the action, games were still an average of 26 minutes shorter compared to Opening Day a year ago. No games were decided in the ninth inning on a pitch clock violation. Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers became the first hitter to be called out on strikes for a pitch clock violation.īut none of the worst-case scenarios occurred. Eight violations were called on pitchers, five were called on hitters and one was called on a catcher. There were 14 pitch clock violations on Opening Day, an average of just under one per game. That isn’t to say everything went off without a hitch. This year, only five out of 15 exceeded three hours. Last year, six of the seven games played on Opening Day exceeded three hours. Nine of the 15 games on Opening Day this year were faster. The shortest of last year’s Opening Day games was 2 hours, 49 minutes. We get in pretty quick and we have more time to rest.” “It’s good,” Dodgers outfielder David Peralta said. On a day when all 30 teams played, every game concluded by 9:55 p.m. The teams went on to combine for nine runs, 24 hits, four errors and 27 strikeouts in a game that no one will remember for its crispness. The game featured 10 runs, 16 hits, 20 strikeouts, four mid-inning pitching changes and a lengthy delay after D-backs reliever Kevin Ginkel was called for a pitch clock violation for coming set before the hitter was ready.Ībout 120 miles south, Padres lefthander Blake Snell needed 93 pitches to get through 4.1 laborious innings against the Rockies. The opening contest between the Dodgers and D-backs served as a microcosm of the pitch clock’s impact. “That was front of mind actually looking at (our) game and going ‘Man, we played 2:35 tonight.’ Last year it was probably 3:35.” “It’s great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said following his team’s 8-2 win over the D-backs. Last year, with seven games played on Opening Day, the average game time was 3:11-26 minutes longer. Ten of the 15 games played lasted less than three hours. The average game time was 2 hours, 45 minutes on Opening Day, the first day of regular season games with the pitch clock in effect. LOS ANGELES - It took just one day for the pitch clock to make its impact felt across Major League Baseball.
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