Major League Baseball has a pace of play problem and it appears they have a plan to solve it.
The length of games have gotten even longer just in the last year. An average game took three hours and 42 seconds to complete in 2016. Most recently that number has risen by 4 1/2 minutes meaning it took three hours, five minutes, and 11 seconds for a game to be completed in 2017.
Surprisingly it is unlikely that this jump in length has anything to do with replay. The amount of replays actually decreased in 2017 along with the amount of overturned calls.
Excessive visits to the mound and time between pitches are just a couple of big reasons for the pace of play problem. MLB wants to address the latter of the two problems this offseason as sources tell Buster Olney of ESPN. Their desire is to implement a 20-second pitch clock.
A pitch clock has been around in the minors for the last three seasons. Pitchers have 20 seconds in-between pitches to throw their next pitch. The clock is in effect when there are no runners on base.
Last season the players’ union had rejected three proposals that were supposed to address pace of play. They were the aforementioned pitch clock, limiting catchers to one mound visit per inning for each pitcher, and raising the bottom of the strike zone to the top of the kneecap.
MLB has the power to put any of these rules into play for next season even without approval. However, it appears that they will hold off and instead try to negotiate the terms with the players during the winter.
