By Jayson Stark, Patrick Mooney, Nick Groke, C Trent Rosecrans and Andy McCullough
MLB’s 15 opening-day games lasted an average of 2 hours and 45 minutes on Thursday, 26 minutes shorter than last year’s average, indicating a successful start to the regular season for the pitch clock, which was introduced to track games in the under the league’s new rule changes. Here’s what you need to know:
- Last year’s opening day, with seven games played, lasted an average of 3 hours and 11 minutes.
- Not one of the first seven games played on Thursday lasted as long as the average playing time on last year’s opening day.
- Only two of the first seven completed games this year were longer than the shortest opening-day game last year. The shortest of last year’s opening games lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.
- Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman committed the first pitch clock violation of the regular season, while Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers was the first hitter to be called out for a pitch clock violation Thursday.
Other notable numbers
On Thursday, one of the two games of the first seven that lasted 2:49 or longer was a 10-9 win for the Orioles over the Red Sox, lasting 3 hours and 10 minutes.
The Reds vs. Pirates game lasted 3 hours and 2 minutes. The matchup had 15 walks and 26 strikeouts, and neither team’s starter lasted more than five innings.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
How did the pitch clock evolve?
By the end of spring training, everyone seemed not only to have gotten used to the pitch clock, but pretty much forgotten about it – except when celebrating a one-hour, 52-minute game, as Reds starter Graham Ashcraft did late spring.
On Thursday, however, both the Pirates and Reds starters had pitch clock violations, and both plate appearances ended in home runs for the batsman. is this related Probably not, but there are more signs of a shake-off in the regular season than in spring, where results don’t matter.
However, even when the game felt like a slog, especially with 15 walks and 26 strikeouts, the announced game time was only 3:02, which would have been considered a fast game a year ago. – Rosary
I’m here to report that the clock works on the west coast too. Take the game between the Padres and the Rockies. San Diego starter Blake Snell operated with his usual inefficient clip. He needed 24 pitches to complete the first inning. He had thrown 70 pitches through three. The reliever behind him wasn’t much better in a 7-2 loss to Colorado. The box score would indicate a competition lagging behind at a sluggish pace. And the game still ended in 2:56, 10 minutes shorter than the average game in 2022.
The other late games were just as airy. The Mariners finished a clean 3-0 win over the Guardians in 2:14. Athletics defeated the Angels 2-1 in 2:30. The Dodgers defeated the Diamondbacks 8-2 in just 2:35 – and that was a game with five different Arizona pitchers and multiple pitching changes mid-innings.
It’s hard to argue with the early results. Time will tell – pardon the expression – about the long-term consequences of the clock. But you can’t question the dead air reduction. – McCullough
What do the opening hours of the day tell us about the impact of the clock?
Spring training games rushed at a pace we haven’t seen in more than 40 years. Spring games averaged two hours and 35 minutes — 26 minutes shorter than last spring and 31 minutes shorter than last year’s average regular-season game.
For all sorts of logical reasons, nobody in the sport thought the pace could be sustainable this year once the season started. But 2:40? Maybe 2:45? There was real optimism that an average somewhere in that range was feasible. And Thursday’s games seemed to prove it.
The first nine games of the day lasted exactly 2:45 on average. Five were shorter. Only four were longer.
Even a 10-9 game in Boston — with 44 baserunners, 10 pitching changes, two pinch hitters and two pinch runners — lasted only 3:10. A year ago, on Opening Day, a 3-1 game between the Astros and Angels — with only 18 baserunners — dragged on for 3:15. And not one game finished in 2:45 all day.
What did Thursday’s game times tell us? Pitch clocks can bring their share of violations and unintended consequences. But do they work? Are they sucking all the dead time out of these games? Do they bring the seasons to a manageable length? That’s not even in doubt. – Strong
What you say
Stroman committed the foul in the third inning of Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Brewers with Christian Yelich at-bat and no outs. The injury was called after Stroman turned to face Brice Turang, who was leading away from second base. He worked around an eventual walk to Yelich after the automatic ball made it 2-2.
Stroman spent part of spring training pitching at a World Baseball Classic that didn’t have a pitch clock and admitted there were times when he felt “super rushed” on the mound.
“I don’t think people really realize that it just adds a whole different layer of thinking,” Stroman said. “You have to be aware of the clock. You try to worry about the pitch. You’re trying to worry about the guys on the base. You try to worry about your grip. So much is happening now.”
He gave up three walks and three hits while catching eight strikeouts. Stroman noted that he’s a pitcher “able to get off the hill and breathe if I have to”.
“I don’t have the opportunity to do that anymore,” Stroman said. “Breathing is very important to align the body and get yourself in a perfect position to get the ball on the plate. Like I said, I think it messes up a lot of guys’ pre-pitch routines, which can ultimately affect how they pitch.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, speaking on air during Thursday’s Rangers TV show, said the league will not have “set our feet in stone” regarding the pitch clock. Manfred said he hopes the referees exercise some discretion late in games to allow for slower, tense moments. During spring training, managers and players across the league expressed concern that a game could end in a pitch clock violation or in a situation where a tight game becomes too hectic for the moment.
While Manfred was speaking, play in Texas was suspended for several minutes after Jacob deGrom’s PitchCom device malfunctioned.
In the Red Sox game against the Orioles, Devers stepped out of the batter’s box in the eighth inning and was not seeded within eight seconds of stepping back, resulting in his injury. He struck after the injury as he already had two strikes. Baltimore went on to win 10-9.
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson was asked about the rules ahead of Wednesday’s practice session.
“Oh, I have tons of ideas,” Swanson said. “I just don’t need any of them to get me in trouble. I definitely think there are some adjustments that can be made. But like I said very early on, we have three choices. One of them is complaining about it all year round, which won’t do anyone any good. The second is to just embrace it and find ways to use it to our advantage. The third would be nobody playing, and I don’t think that’s going to happen either. So we are left with only one option and that is to embrace it and use it to our advantage and do our best to play this new kind of baseball.
backstory
With the goal of improving entertainment for fans, MLB introduced the pitch clock in the spring. Pitchers have 20 seconds to begin their throwing motions with runners on base and 15 seconds to do so with empty bases. Umpires judge a ball for pitchers who do not begin their movements before the clock is up and a strike for batters who are not in the box and “warn the pitcher” within eight seconds.
The commissioner’s office said in September that the introduction of a pitch clock in the smaller leagues last year cut average playing time by 25 minutes.
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(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)