Thoughts on MLB's Pitch Clock

Photo by si.com

We're two months into the 2023 Major League Baseball Season and the "new" rules seem to be helping the game that used to be America's pastime.

MLB claims games are roughly a half hour shorter than they were last year. I did a quick check yesterday and of the 16 games played, four were over three hours, three more were within five minutes of three hours and the other nine were less than 2:55 in length.

As a fan I am happy the games are shorter.  No one liked watching pitchers step off of the rubber and batters step out of the box on what seemed like almost every pitch. The 15/20 second pitch clock has made a big difference but there are still some issues needing to be addressed.

Many MLB umpires, for whatever reason, are unwilling to call the strike zone as it is written.  Many pitches near the bottom of the zone are being called balls resulting in hitters taking what should legitimately be called strikes.  This results in more pitches and batters waiting out pitchers for walks.  Walks slow down the game and add to the time needed to play the game not to mention the lack of action on the field.  MLB needs to address this immediately and force the umpires to call the strike zone correctly.  This issue can be resolved with technology that's currently being tested in the minor leagues.  The robot umpire doesn't miss any pitches in the strike zone.

Both hitters and pitchers are lobbying to increase the length of the time clock. Currently hitters are allowed to call one time out per at bat as are pitchers.  But, both sides are wanting the play clock to be longer.  I have heard some inane arguments from both sides saying the games are too fast and fans don't have a chance to go to the concession stand without missing a chunk of the game.  I call baloney.  MLB must keep the existing play clock times in effect.  If anything they can probably be shortened a few seconds with runners on base.

Time will tell if the players end up getting their way or the fans can expect reasonably played games at a relatively snappy pace.  If the games go back to their old length of over three hours and 15 minutes fans will stay away in droves and both attendance and TV ratings will continue to fall.