New for this season…reduces average regular season game time by 25 minutes
By Jang Won Seo = Major League Baseball (MLB) will introduce a ‘pitch clock’ in the postseason this year.
“MLB has decided to keep the pitching time rule in place for pitchers in the postseason,” ESPN reported on Feb. 2 (Korea time), citing sources.
Pitch clocks were first introduced in MLB this season in an effort to “speed things up. The rule requires pitchers to throw a ball within 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base.
For batters, they must assume a batting stance eight seconds before the pitch clock ends.
If the pitcher breaks the rule, they get one ball, and if the batter breaks the rule, they get one strike.
The effects of the pitch clock are clear. The average MLB regular season game lasted 2 hours and 39 minutes, down 25 minutes from last year’s 3 hours and 4 minutes.
Seeing the results, MLB decided to continue the rule in the postseason.
According to ESPN, MLB’s executive committee agreed not to make any rule changes before the postseason and recently informed the Joint Competition Committee, which is made up of representatives of players and owners, of the decision.
Last year, the average postseason game lasted 3 hours and 32 minutes, 53 minutes longer than the regular season this year, when the pitch clock was introduced.온라인바카
MLB players have also adjusted to the pitch clock.
According to ESPN, “Pitch clock violations, which were a consistent occurrence earlier in the season, have all but disappeared to about one every four games. Two-thirds of regular-season games have ended without a pitch clock violation.”