MLB Reveals How Much Pitch Clock Rule Change Reduced 2023 Spring Training Game Times

Major League Baseball said Tuesday that pitch clocks shaved an average of 26 minutes from games during spring training this year, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers, reducing games from three hours, one minute during last year's spring training to two hours, 35 minutes this year.

Regular-season games last year averaged three hours, three minutes. A similar reduction in the amount of time games take will be expected once the season starts Thursday.

Obviously, the change is a major adjustment. A ball is added to the pitch count if a pitcher takes more than 15 seconds between pitches without a runner on base and more than 20 seconds between pitchers with runners on base.

Hitters, meanwhile, have to be in the batter's box and ready to hit with at least eight seconds remaining on the pitch clock, otherwise a strike is added to the count.

In the first week of Spring Training, there were 2.03 violations per game. As pitchers and batters adjusted to the changes, those violations decreased, however, dropping to 1.24 violations per game in Week 5.

Other changes going into effect include larger bases, pitchers only being allowed to step off the rubber twice during an at-bat and the outlawing of the shift and the requirement that all infielders are standing in the infield dirt

"This is the next level — having the rules applied in games that matter," Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Evan Longoria told reporters. "Nobody's getting numbers stamped on the back of a baseball card during spring training. I think this is going to be a huge adjustment."

Arguably it's an even bigger adjustment for hitters, as the requirement to be in the box within eight seconds remaining means pitchers have more control over the game's tempo.

"Really, the power the pitcher has now—I can totally dictate pace," New York Mets ace Max Scherzer said.

But San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler wondered if that expedited pacing would be beneficial for all players in the long term.

"Before you could step out of the batter's box and catch your breath, look up at the sky, take your time getting back in," he said. "The worst you would get is the umpire saying, 'Let's go'. Now there is a real penalty for it. Taking all the thoughts out of your head. I think it will be most advantageous for the athletes."

Time will tell. Either way, major changes have come for baseball.