MLB Players Want Pitch Clock Rule Adjustments for Playoffs, Poll Says

Major League Baseball players are apparently fans of the new pitch clock but would still like to see some changes for the postseason.

The Athletic conducted a poll of more than 100 players around the league to ask their opinions on a variety of topics, including whether they liked the rule changes of banning the shift, increasing the size of the bases and implementing a pitch clock.

Notably, all three rule changes averaged a score of approximately four on a one-to-five scale with five suggesting the rule was the best thing for the game.

Yet 60.7 percent of those players who answered believe the pitch clock shouldn't be used as is when the pressure is dialed up in the playoffs. Some said the league could eliminate it in October, while others suggested it shouldn't be enforced following the seventh inning.

The idea of adding five seconds was also raised.

"If you're in the eighth inning of a World Series game, and somebody gets banged on a pitch-clock violation, that's not really what we're looking for," one player said.

The rule, which was put in place this season, gives pitchers 15 seconds to throw a pitch if the bases are empty and 20 seconds if there is a runner on base. What's more, batters must be in the box with at least eight seconds remaining on the clock.

Batters who violate the rule are issued a strike, while pitchers who do so are issued a ball.

It has had an undeniable impact on the pace of play, as Matt Snyder of CBS Sports illustrated earlier this month (data through May games):

Average Time for a Nine-Inning Game

• 2019: Three hours, 10 minutes

• 2020: Three hours, six minutes

• 2021: Three hours, 11 minutes

• 2022: Three hours, six minutes

• 2023: Two hours, thirty-nine minutes

Snyder noted the significant decrease in time happened even while runs per game increased.

The rule was put in place to increase the pace of play and cut into dead time for those who attend games in person and watch on television. That has been the case so far this season, and players seem to like it for the most part.

But those opinions may apparently be different when a championship is on the line.