Major League Baseball has announced that they will be maintaining the pitch clock regulations for the postseason, disregarding complaints from certain players. This decision was made after an MLB executive council meeting, where the commissioner’s office informed the competition committee of their stance. Sports Illustrated was the first to report this news.
The pitch clock was initially introduced ahead of the 2023 season, and it came with additional restrictions on defensive shifts and larger bases. The current pitch clock is set at 15 seconds when there are no runners on base and 20 seconds when there are runners. The implementation of the pitch clock has had a positive impact on game length. The average time of a nine-inning game decreased from 3 hours and 10 minutes in 2021 to 3 hours and 4 minutes last year when the PitchCom electronic signaling device was introduced. So far this season, the average game time is 2 hours and 39 minutes, potentially making it the fastest since 1984.
However, there has been a slight increase in game length since April. The average has risen from 2 hours and 37 minutes in April to 2 hours and 38 minutes in May, 2 hours and 39 minutes in June, and 2 hours and 41 minutes in both July and August. Despite this, clock violations have shown a decrease throughout the season. Violations have averaged 0.48 per game, dropping from 0.71 in April to 0.57 in May, 0.41 in June, 0.38 in July, and 0.29 in August.
During the postseason last year, nine-inning games had an average duration of 3 hours and 23 minutes, with the World Series averaging at 3 hours and 24 minutes.