Pitch clock cut minor league games by 25 minutes to 2:38

FILE - A pitch clock is deployed to restrict pitcher preparation times during a minor league baseball game between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Greensboro Grasshoppers, July 13, 2022, in the Coney Island neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. Major League Baseball is set to announce a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts next season in an effort to shorten games and increase offense. The sport’s 11-man competition committee is set to adopt the rules changes Friday, Sept. 9. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - A pitch clock is deployed to restrict pitcher preparation times during a minor league baseball game between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Greensboro Grasshoppers, July 13, 2022, in the Coney Island neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. Major League Baseball is set to announce a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts next season in an effort to shorten games and increase offense. The sport’s 11-man competition committee is set to adopt the rules changes Friday, Sept. 9. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

By Ronald Blum
 
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NEW YORK (AP) — Use of pitch clocks cut the average time of minor league games by 25 minutes this year, a reduction Major League Baseball hopes is replicated when the devices are installed in the big leagues next season.

The average time of minor league games dropped to 2 hours, 38 minutes in the season that ended Wednesday, according to the commissioner’s office. That was down from 3:03 during the 2021 season.

Clocks at Triple-A were set at 14 seconds with no runners on base and 19 with runners. At lower levels, the clocks were at 18 seconds with runners.

Big league nine-inning games are averaging 3:04 this season.

MLB announced on Sept. 9 that clocks will be introduced in the major leagues next year at 15 seconds with no runners and 20 seconds with runners, a decision opposed by the players’ association.

Pitchers are penalized a ball for violating the clock. In the minors, violations decreased from an average of 1.73 per game in the second week to 0.41 in week 24.

There will be a limit of two pickoff attempts or stepoffs per plate appearance, a rule that also was part of the minor league experiment this season. A third pickoff throw that is not successful would result in a balk.

Stolen bases increased to an average of 2.81 per game from 2.23 in the minors this year and the success rate rose to 78% from 68%.

Many offensive measurements were relatively stable: runs per team per game increased to 5.13 from 5.11 and batting average to .249 from .247.

Plate appearances resulting in home runs dropped to 2.7% from 2.8%, strikeouts declined to 24.4% from 25.4% and walks rose to 10.5% from 10.2%. Hit batters remained at 1.6%.

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