In baseball, pace of play refers to the length of time between in-game action, specifically the length of time a pitcher takes between their pitches. A slow pace of play can extend the length of games, which is regarded as an issue in college baseball and professional baseball. To accelerate the pace of play, leagues have instituted rule changes, such as the implementation of a pitch clock in Major League Baseball.
Game length in Major League Baseball (MLB) has increased over time, with the 1988 New York Yankees being the first team to average over three hours per game. [2] From 2004 through 2014, MLB games increased from an average of 2.85 hours to 3.13 hours. [3] This was in spite of decreases in scoring, with MLB teams scoring 4.1 runs per game in 2014, down from 5.14 in 2000. [2]
The amount of time a pitcher takes between pitches directly affects pace of play, and varies widely. For the first half of the 2022 MLB season, the slowest working pitcher was Giovanny Gallegos of the St. Louis Cardinals, who averaged 31.7 seconds between pitches, while the quickest working pitcher was Sam Long of the San Francisco Giants, who averaged 17.9 seconds. [1]
In college baseball, the Southeastern Conference experimented with a 20-second pitch clock during the 2010 season, [4] and the National Collegiate Athletic Association instituted the pitch clock before the 2011 season for when no runners are on base. [5] During the 2014 season, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball instituted its own changes. These included using a 12-second pitch clock, reducing timeouts and warm-up pitches, and making intentional walks automatic by signalling the umpire, rather than throwing four intentional balls. [6] The Arizona Fall League began using a pitch clock in 2014 and the Double-A and Triple-A levels of Minor League Baseball followed suit in 2015. [7] Those levels saw a 12-minute reduction in game times. [8]
Towards the end of the 2014 season, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig announced the formation of a committee to examine the issue. John Schuerholz chaired the committee, which also included Sandy Alderson, Tony Clark, Rob Manfred, Joe Torre, and Tom Werner. [9] Manfred, having succeeded Selig as the Commissioner in 2015, instituted rule changes to MLB before the start of the 2015 MLB season to address pace of play, including having batters remain in the batters box and the installation of time clocks to limit the time spent around commercial breaks. [10] In 2015, MLB had a committee discuss bringing back the bullpen car. [11] [12]
Prior to the 2017 MLB season, the rules were amended to allow a manager to order an automatic intentional walk. [13] MLB and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) discussed the possibility of introducing the pitch clock at the major league level for the 2018 season. [14] MLB opted against imposing it unilaterally, over the opposition of the MLBPA. [15] Before the 2018 season, MiLB took major actions, including adding pitch clocks at all levels, beginning each extra inning with a runner on second base, and restricting the number of mound visits for full-season Class A through Triple-A teams. [16] Also, the Arizona Diamondbacks of MLB announced they would introduce their first bullpen car in 2018. [17] Minor League Baseball expanded its pace of play initiatives in 2019 by requiring Double-A and Triple-A pitchers to face a minimum of three consecutive batters unless the side is retired or the pitcher becomes injured and is unable to continue playing. [18] Also, the number of allowed mound visits was reduced: Class A (9 visits), Double-A (7 visits), and Triple-A (5 visits). [18]
As an experimental step to accelerate pace of play, MLB implemented 20-second pitch clocks during spring training games in 2019. [19]
After a successful trial in Low-A West in 2021, MLB allowed teams to use PitchCom, a wireless communications system, to request pitches starting in the 2022 season. [20] Through their first 54 games in 2022, the New York Yankees played 25 games (about 47%) in less than three hours. In 2021, only about 25% of the Yankees' games finished in three hours or less. [21]
On September 8, 2022, MLB announced a set of rules changes that will take effect in 2023, including the use of a pitch clock. [22] These rules were implemented from the start of spring training prior to the 2023 season (though they were not in place for the World Baseball Classic, played during 2023 spring training) to allow players, managers and umpires to adjust to the rules. Player representatives to the competition committee, the body responsible for the rule changes, voted against implementing the pitch clock and infield positioning restrictions. [23] The changes had been trialed in the minor leagues starting in the 2021 season, with larger bases tested in Triple-A games, defensive positioning limits in Double-A and limited step-offs in Single-A. The pitch clock was introduced at all minor league levels in 2022. [24]
Among the 2023 rules changes designed to improve pace of play by leaving less dead time between pitches and balls in play were the following:
Near the end of the 2023 spring training MLB sent a memo to clubs clarifying some of these rules, among others, and noted that umpires had discretion to extend between-innings timing, delay the start of the pitch clock or make other allowances when the course of play required it, provided players were not viewed as attempting to game the system. In particular this was meant to address situations when catchers required time to put on protective equipment between innings, when pitchers ended a play well away from the mound and to reduce the opportunities for pitchers to game the pitch clock with quick pitches. [27]
Additional rule changes, including restrictions on defensive positioning in the infield and an increase in the size of bases, were also designed to result in more balls in play and more baserunning activity, though not explicitly to increase the pace of play. [29] These are in part a reaction to stolen base totals reaching a fifty-year low in 2021 and the league-wide batting average reaching .243 in 2022, its lowest since 1968. Major League Baseball is promoting these changes with an advertising campaign using the slogan, "Three New Rules. More Great Action." [30]
2023 Spring training games played prior to March 22, 2023 averaged two hours, 36 minutes, about 25 minutes faster than the average time from 2022. Timing violations by pitchers and batters fell from 2.03 per game during the first week of spring training to 1.03 per game during the fourth week. [31]
For games played in the first week of the 2023 season, average game time was more than a half-hour shorter that in the 2021 season. Only four of the 2023 season's first 97 games were longer than the average game time from the 2022 season. [32] Pitch clock violations numbered 125 in the first 141 games of the 2023 season, or .89 per game, with about two thirds of these violations called on the pitcher. [33]
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's corporate headquarters is located at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher has been removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather delays or pinch hitter substitutions. Relief pitchers are further divided informally into various roles, such as closers, setup men, middle relief pitchers, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. Whereas starting pitchers usually throw so many pitches in a single game that they must rest several days before pitching in another, relief pitchers are expected to be more flexible and typically pitch in more games with a shorter time period between pitching appearances but with fewer innings pitched per appearance. A team's staff of relievers is normally referred to metonymically as a team's bullpen, which refers to the area where the relievers sit during games, and where they warm-up prior to entering the game.
Throughout the history of baseball, the rules have frequently changed as the game continues to evolve. A few common rules most professional leagues have in common is that four balls is a base on balls, three strikes is a strikeout, and three outs end a half-inning.
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers to less organized venues for activities like sandlot ball.
Patrick Michael Venditte Jr. is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Miami Marlins. After attending Creighton University, Venditte was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2008. He signed with the Athletics as a free agent before the 2015 season and made his MLB debut that year.
Triple-A has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). There are 30 teams, one per each Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, with 20 in the IL and 10 in the PCL. Triple-A teams are generally located in smaller cities as well as larger metropolitan areas without MLB teams, such as Austin, Jacksonville, Columbus, and Indianapolis. Four Triple-A teams play in the same metro areas as their parent clubs.
Timothy Scott Elbert is an American former Professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers. A former first round draft pick, his career had been hampered by various arm injuries.
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisions. Beyond the manager, more than a half dozen coaches may assist the manager in running the team. Essentially, baseball coaches are analogous to assistant coaches in other sports, as the baseball manager is to the head coach.
Double-A is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League Baseball, organized into three leagues: the Eastern League, the Southern League, and the Texas League.
Pedro Alberys Báez is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros. Signed as an international free agent in 2007, Báez made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2014, and, in 2020, was a member of the Dodgers' World Series championship club.
Cory Nathanial Gearrin is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins.
Jacob Tanner Diekman is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
Miles Tice Mikolas, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants. He was an All-Star in 2018, led the National League in wins that season, and finished sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting that year. He was also an All-Star in 2022.
Héctor Neris is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros. He was signed as a free agent by the Phillies in 2010, and made his MLB debut with them in 2014.
Nicholas John Carlo Pivetta is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Washington Nationals selected Pivetta in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies during the 2015 season, and made his MLB debut with them in 2017 and played with them through 2020. Listed at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) and 220 pounds (100 kg), he throws and bats right-handed.
A pitch clock is used in various baseball leagues to limit the amount of time a pitcher uses before he throws the ball to the hitter and/or limit the amount of time the hitter uses before he is prepared to hit.
José Antonio Alvarado is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Alvarado previously played for the Tampa Bay Rays, having signed there as an international free agent in 2012. Alvarado made his major league debut in 2017.
Jake Layton Fishman is an American-Israeli professional baseball pitcher for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Fishman was selected in the 30th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 2023 Baltimore Orioles season was the 123rd season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 70th in Baltimore, and the 32nd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles improved on their 83–79 season from 2022, with their 84th win coming on September 2. On September 4, after the Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Angels, they established a new American League record by surpassing the 1922–24 New York Yankees with 84 consecutive series of two-plus games of not being swept. The Orioles tied their win total from 2016 with their win over the Red Sox on September 8, and the win against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 11 ensured that the Orioles won at least one game against all MLB opponents in the regular season. The Orioles clinched a playoff spot with the Texas Rangers' loss on September 17, shortly before their own win over the Tampa Bay Rays. This was Baltimore's first postseason appearance since 2016. On September 28, the Orioles clinched the division title for the first time since the 2014 season, and just the second time since 1997. The win on September 28 also ensured the Orioles would win 100 or more games for the first time since 1980. In the playoffs, the Orioles were upset by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in the ALDS, being swept in 3 games.
The 2023 Miami Marlins season was the 31st season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in the National League and the 12th as the Miami Marlins. The Marlins played their home games at LoanDepot Park as members of the National League East. It also was the team's first season under the management of Skip Schumaker.
