This season, MLB has adopted a few rule changes.
The bases are bigger to prevent injuries, the shift is eliminated, and there is a pitch clock.
The pitch clock has been the biggest change of them all.
Pitchers now have a limited amount of time to get set and deliver a pitch, while hitters have a limited amount of time to get in the batter’s box.
If either the batter or pitcher violates the rule, an automatic ball or strike will be called.
The pitch timer has shaved considerable time off of games this season.
On Twitter, Codify posted the percentages of nine-inning games that have lasted three or more hours from 2002-23, with only nine percent of games this year lasting that long.
9-inning MLB games lasting 3+ hours:
2002 – 35%
2003 – 24%
2004 – 25%
2005 – 26%
2006 – 27%
2007 – 34%
2008 – 31%
2009 – 34%
2010 – 33%
2011 – 35%
2012 – 42%
2013 – 47%
2014 – 54%
2015 – 42%
2016 – 51%
2017 – 59%
2018 – 50%
2019 – 59%
2020 – 63%
2021 – 67%
2022 – 57%
2023 – 9%????— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 2, 2023
Back in 2002, only 35 percent of games lasted three or more hours.
2003 saw a decrease to 24 percent, but it began to trend upwards from there.
2021 saw the highest percentage of games that lasted at least three hours.
67 percent of games lasted that long.
This year, things are much different.
The game is flowing at a brisker pace with more action and less downtime.
Pitchers and hitters must be ready to go for an at-bat within a certain time frame if they wish to avoid being called for a violation.
It appears that this year, this new rule has worked out quite well and games are moving quickly with less down time.
This is what MLB was hoping to accomplish, and this is also what fans were hoping to see.
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