New pitch clock is a positive change

Grayson Sampson, Staff Writer|April 12, 2023

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Wikipedia

     According to CBS Sports, the length of Major League Baseball games has shortened from 3 hours and 3 minutes to 2 hours and 50 minutes. This may seem like a miniscule amount of time, but it is a lot more important than it seems.

  The MLB has the oldest fanbase out of the four main sports leagues in the U.S., with an average fan age of 57. One of the main reasons for this is the length of the games. It is harder for the younger generation to sit down and watch a 162 game season with all the games being almost three hours each, but the new pitch clock might solve this problem.

     Some of the games this year have been close to only two hours long, and this is all due to the pitch clock. The pitch clock is a timer that limits the amount of time that the pitcher has to throw the pitch. The duration of the timer is 30 seconds in between batters, 20 seconds if there is someone on base, and 15 seconds if there is nobody on base. The batter must be in the batters box before the clock hits eight seconds left.

     There has been some backlash for the rule change. It was the 9th inning of the Braves vs Red Sox spring training game on Feb. 24th, the bases were loaded, the score was 6-6, Cal Conley was up to bat with two strikes, a dream opportunity for some hitters, but the game ended in a tie because Conley did not get in the batter’s box on time, resulting in an automatic strike.

     There were some other rule changes that might shake up the league along with the pitch clock. The bases increased in size from 15 inches by 15 inches to 18 inches by 18 inches, which is expected to raise the steal rate in the MLB. 

     There is also a new rule that limits shifts, when position players play in a different spot on the field depending on the hitter, the change is expected to raise batting average.

     There are obviously going to be flaws when it comes to brand new rules, but at this point in the season, the shortening of the games is going to make the game more interesting and bring in a younger fanbase that they didn’t have before.