CLEVELAND — The clock is ticking and while time passes by, the game of baseball is also changing.
“Our research showed that the game had evolved and changed in a way that fans didn’t like,” said Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. “We decided it was time to intervene.”
The most attention-grabbing rule change for 2023 includes the pitch clock.
“I think it’s going to help baseball’s product immensely,” said ESPN baseball analyst Buster Olney.
Onley said speed is good for the game.
“That’s what we’re going to see in baseball this year, a game time reduction of 20, 25, 30 minutes.”
He's got a point. Through baseball's opening series league-wide, the average game time has decreased by nearly half an hour from 2022. An average of 2 hours, 28 minutes per game is a drastic decrease from the 3-hour and 4-minute ball game last season.
“I’m home two, three hours later, so I’m good with that as a coach,” said Cleveland baseball legend Sandy Alomar. “As a player, you’ve got to adapt.”
While many fans may enjoy the immediate change to the game, players may take a little more time to adjust.
“There was a couple times I felt rushed, if I’m being quiet honest,” said Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber, following his first start in Cleveland’s season-opener. “I still don’t know when they start it, when they reset it.”
The clock is even becoming a bit of a distraction in the dugout early on.
“I’ve caught myself looking at the clock, when in reality I can’t do anything about it,” said Guardians manager Terry Francona. “I need to start just paying attention to the game. We’ll get to that.”
Another major rule change that comes with the 2023 season includes eliminating the defensive shift. This is in an effort to increase offensive production.
“No doubt the numbers that Major League Baseball has compiled during spring training are showing there’s more hits in these exhibition games,” Olney said. “There’s more offense. And that’s what their goal was.”
Even with the early and small sample size, the numbers are proving the changes are effective. Through the first week of the season: runs, hits, batting averages, on-base and slugging percentages are all up over previous yearly averages.
It's clear that the game is changing. The Guardians staff said that it's alright, as long as the integrity of the game stays the same.
“We’re all hoping for the same thing—where it’s baseball. Nothing gets in the way,” Francona said.
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