Pitch Clocks Shortened Minor League Games By 26 Minutes In 2022

Image credit: Pitch clock (Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images)

Major League Baseball announced Friday that a pitch clock will be implemented in the majors beginning with the 2023 season, among other rules changes.

Given the success of the current pitch clock in the minors, the announcement comes as no surprise.

The introduction of the current pitch clock at all full-season levels of the minors this year led to a reduction of 26 minutes in the average time of a nine-inning game through Sept. 8. Every level of the minors saw its average game time reduced between 18-31 minutes.

It is a similar result to what happened with the introduction of the current pitch clock in the Low-A California League last year. Game times in the league were reduced by an average of 21 minutes after the clock was introduced during the season.

Executives and team officials voiced overwhelming support for the pitch clock following those results. MLB expanded the pitch clock to all full-season levels of the minors this year.

League	2021 Avg. TOG	2022 Avg. TOG		Minutes Saved
AAA Overall	3:04	2:43		21
Pacific Coast	3:11	2:48		23
International	3:00	2:41		19
AA Overall	2:58	2:40		18
Texas	3:02	2:42		20
Southern	2:53	2:41		12
Eastern	2:56	2:38		18
A+ Overall	3:05	2:34		31
South Atlantic	3:03	2:37		26
Midwest	3:07	2:33		34
Northwest	3:03	2:30		33
A Overall	3:00	2:36		24
California	2:44*	2:41		3
Carolina	3:05	2:36		29
Florida State	3:11	2:33		38

*California League introduced pitch clock during 2021 season.
Source: MLB Research

Different versions of a pitch clock have been in use at Double-A and Triple-A since 2015, but they were largely ineffective at shortening game times because pitchers could step off the rubber to reset the clock.

MLB introduced the current version of pitch clock rules in the California League in 2021, where pitchers were limited to two pickoff attempts and were called for a balk if a third pickoff attempt was unsuccessful. If a pitcher stepped off, it counted as one of his pickoff attempts. 

The rule served as an effective deterrent to pitchers stepping off and led to the decrease in game times expected.

Big league pitchers will have slightly more time in between pitches than their minor league brethren. MLB pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches with nobody on and 20 seconds between pitches with runners on. 

They also will have slightly more leeway on the pickoff limitations. In the minors, pitchers were limited to two “step-offs” per plate appearance, and that limit did not reset if a runner advanced. In MLB, that limit will reset if a runner advances to another base.