Pace of Game Thread

Definitely see the need to get rid of the ability of essentially any player to pause the game at any time they see fit, but some of these changes chip away at the strategy I find interesting about the game.

Also, "instant replay" feels like the elephant in the room in this report. "How can we shorten the game we just lengthened," etc.

i think the big thing is how long it takes to replace a pitcher. watching a manager slowly shuffle out a little after the catcher dawdles out and chit chat until the umpire starts to get agitated in order to buy their closer more just kills me. especially a rough inning where there will be a few changes.zzzz city.

Yeah those are the worst. And like a lot of these delays, they're even worse on television. Couple of pitches, commercial break.

the conferences, etc are annoying but i think the big difference is the stepping out of the box/adjusting gloves/spitting on hands after every single pitch

i was watching some of game 7 of the '71 series recently and stargell and clemente never step out of the box (boog powell is a bit slower, tho):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zBhRvQIqW0

(it helps that blass doesn't pause when pitching from the stretch)

yup – they should def stop putting up with all the glorified nervous tic behaviour in between every frigging pitch.

Definitely like #3. How fast the pitcher works seems like a crucial variable to me--and something I really notice when I watch older games.

didn't a few rules get put in 4-5 years ago only to be summarily ignored by everyone?

I like all these ideas, and double yes to the dudes stepping outside of the box on every pitch

Joe (Cubicle hell)
Klaw.. please provide your thoughts on the attempt to speed up the game during AFL... is it working?

Klaw (2:31 PM)
Umps were ignoring that stuff when I was out there. I think just getting batters to stay in the box will improve the perceived pace of the game substantially.

pitch clocks, foot-in-box rules to be implemented in double-a, triple-a

Anything noteworthy in the pace of game department? The Braves are playing a lot of 2:20-ish games lately. Has Papi changed his between-pitch routine at all?

@MBravesRadio
Through 30 games, the Southern League has shaved 13 minutes off the average 9-inning game time, from 2:52 to 2:39

Pitchers are always better than hitters in April

Compare to the average April game length and then let's see

Gotta say these rules seem less intrusive than I feared. I don't think they alone explain the 8-minute drop in average game time the league has seen this year, but they aren't hurting anything

Could a (Catcher's) Helmet Headset Speed Up Games?

ugh

Marwin Gonzalez wins the batting title you don’t want: xHSAA ...a pace metric controlling for context. @bachlaw @tangotiger #useless stats #rstats #MLB Other fun pace stats: https://t.co/yWCKkroZgu pic.twitter.com/vcm971G8sH

— Sam Sharpe (@SharpeWordz) March 1, 2018

each extra inning will start with a runner on second at all levels of the minors + limited mound visits + 15-second pitch clock with no runners on (at AAA/AA only)

https://www.milb.com/milb/news/minor-league-baseball-announces-pace-of-play-regulations-for-2018/c-268683294

needless to say, righteous purists are pissed and everyone who works in the minors is thrilled

any novelty welcome, eh

this obviously makes sense in short-season A, where less of that garbage is a better value

i think a better choice would have been to just call it a tie after ten innings, but whatever

impressive how worked up ppl have gotten though -- 'i will never attend a minor league baseball game again'/'are you gonna give everyone a participation trophy after the game'/'fuck you you fucking cucks'

cardinals-pirates today

11 innings
11 runs
14 hits
16 walks
26 strikeouts
16 pitchers

and all in a crisp 4:50

The Entire 2019 Kentucky Derby & the time between 2 Greinke pitches to Albies, Overlayed. pic.twitter.com/vliOF8wn8A

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 11, 2019

The Red Sox now have...... 21 active pitchers.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) September 4, 2019

The job of Cora and Kevin Cash is to find a way to win, every day. Theirs is not the job of creating nationwide interest. Baseball's deference to the evils of showcase development and the idiocy of unlimited Sept rosters making games unwatchable is the fault of MLB. Period. https://t.co/b5Vzarmdpc

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) September 4, 2019

verducci: https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/03/17/baseball-preview-pace-of-play-crisis

Brainstorming: if batter has both feet outside of the batter box, catcher can tag them for an out. At all times. No equipment time out.

Personally, it's the walking around the batter's box between pitches that is killing me.

farhan zaidi on the radio argued that it’s the greater athleticism of today’s players that’s causing games to stretch out... like every pitch is a monster feat of atheleticism now and you can’t just be a dude with a boilermaker throwing whatever pitches 5 seconds apart or whatever, idk...

yeah i remember seeing something science-y about how their muscles/ligaments need a certain number of seconds to recharge or bounce back or whatever

my suggestion is that every time a hitter unvelcros/revelcros a batting glove, it's a called strike

And yes, the strikezone is too high, I don’t know how batters are supposed to hit 98 mph right below the elbow. I realize a lesser strikezone will result in longer games but also, the ball would be in play a bit more, and pitching would be favored in lieu of throwing.

I remember someone jokingly suggesting 3 innings with 9 outs apiece and honestly I think it's a great idea