When I heard of a potential pitch clock in baseball I immediately did not want it. However, after reading about how it has worked in the minor leagues and having observed it in person yesterday, I am all in. I really hope MLB adopts it for next year. I think the implementation of a pitch clock (and some other rule changes like bigger bases, automated strike zone, shift ban) come down to a competition committee. I think it is essential they add the pitch clock.
How it works:
"...there is a 14-second timer between pitches with no one on base and 18 seconds with a runner on base... There is a 30-second timer between batters. If a pitcher fails to throw a pitch in time, it is an automatic ball. If a hitter is not ready in time, it is an automatic strike. Each batter gets one timeout per plate appearance, and pitchers get a total of two step-offs or pickoffs per batter."*
Anecdote:
I went to the Bowie Bay Sox game yesterday. As an example of how well this works, I recorded an at bat that was 5 pitches and resulted in a strike out. The at bat lasted 59 seconds. In some extreme cases watching Tigers games this year, a 59 second snipit of an at bat would be 2 pitches, meaning the same at bat at a Tigers game could take as long as 2:30. This was just one at bat, so I found in the below article an example from two separate but similar Loons games, first with the clock, second without:
"12R, 15H, 5E, 20BB, 3HBP, 365P
(𝟮𝗵𝟱𝟱𝗺)
13R, 16H, 3E, 19BB, 0HBP, 387P
(𝟯𝗵𝟱𝟯𝗺)"
*https://www.mlb.com/news/how-pitch-clock-is-working-in-minor-leagues-in-2022
How it works:
"...there is a 14-second timer between pitches with no one on base and 18 seconds with a runner on base... There is a 30-second timer between batters. If a pitcher fails to throw a pitch in time, it is an automatic ball. If a hitter is not ready in time, it is an automatic strike. Each batter gets one timeout per plate appearance, and pitchers get a total of two step-offs or pickoffs per batter."*
Anecdote:
I went to the Bowie Bay Sox game yesterday. As an example of how well this works, I recorded an at bat that was 5 pitches and resulted in a strike out. The at bat lasted 59 seconds. In some extreme cases watching Tigers games this year, a 59 second snipit of an at bat would be 2 pitches, meaning the same at bat at a Tigers game could take as long as 2:30. This was just one at bat, so I found in the below article an example from two separate but similar Loons games, first with the clock, second without:
"12R, 15H, 5E, 20BB, 3HBP, 365P
(𝟮𝗵𝟱𝟱𝗺)
13R, 16H, 3E, 19BB, 0HBP, 387P
(𝟯𝗵𝟱𝟯𝗺)"
*https://www.mlb.com/news/how-pitch-clock-is-working-in-minor-leagues-in-2022
