After years of speculation, the MLB will officially begin to implement a pitch clock beginning next season.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, pitchers will only be allowed 15 seconds between pitches when the bases are empty (the MLB average is currently at 18.2 seconds) and 20 seconds when runners are on base (the current average is 23.8 seconds).
This rule is expected to make the games faster, which is a good thing.
Using the pitch tempo data provided by Statcast, I found the pitchers most likely to be impacted by the new rule. It is particularly interesting to note that relievers dominated this list.
If we looked at the players who have thrown at least 750 pitches this season, however, the names that would top the list would look very different. They would include Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Luis Garcia (Astros), Paul Blackburn (A’s), Corbin Burnes (Brewers), and Josiah Gray (Nationals).
Otherwise, however, these are the players who use the most time between pitches in the MLB:
10
Hunter Strickland (Reds)
Bases Empty – 24.4 seconds (7th slowest)
Runners On – 27.2 seconds (28th slowest)
9
Emmanuel Clase (Guardians)
Bases Empty – 24.8 seconds (6th slowest)
Runners On – 27.6 seconds (24th slowest)
8
Hirokazu Sawamura (Red Sox)
Bases Empty – 21.9 seconds (39th slowest)
Runners On – 30 seconds (4th slowest)
7
Alex Colomé (Rockies)
Bases Empty – 23.6 seconds (15th slowest)
Runners On – 29.9 seconds (5th slowest)
6
Devin Williams (Brewers)
Bases Empty – 23.5 seconds (18th slowest)
Runners On – 30.9 seconds (2nd slowest)
5
Joe Kelly (White Sox)
Bases Empty – 25 seconds (5th slowest)
Runners On – 27.9 seconds (14th slowest)
4
Kyle Finnegan (Nationals)
Bases Empty – 25.9 seconds (3rd slowest)
Runners On – 29.2 seconds (8th slowest)
3
Kenley Jansen (Braves)
Bases Empty – 25.2 seconds (4th slowest)
Runners On – 30.6 seconds (3rd slowest)
2
Aroldis Chapman (Yankees)
Bases Empty – 25.9 seconds (2nd slowest)
Runners On – 29.9 seconds (6th slowest)
1
Giovanny Gallegos (Cardinals)
Bases Empty – 26.3 seconds (1st slowest)
Runners On – 32.8 seconds (1st slowest)
