The new pitch clock promises to bring substantial change to MLB this season, speeding up the game—which critics say can be a slog at times—by a significant amount. With Opening Day coming on Thursday, the league has shared some eye-opening numbers that reveal the impact of the clock, as well as some of the league’s other rule changes on 2023 spring training contests.
According to data provided to Sports Illustrated by MLB, spring training games through Tuesday took an average of 2:35. That is a 26 minute reduction in game time from 2022’s spring training played without the pitch clock.
That reduction comes despite offense being relatively flat, year-over-year. Last year, an average of 10.6 runs per game were scored in spring training. That mark was slightly down in 2023, at 10.2 runs per game. Batting average was also down this year, but only slightly: .259 in ’22 and .257 in ’23.
