Professional baseball is known for lasting for a long time. Because of this fans were leaving games early or not going to games! The MLB decided because of that there would be a shot clock in stadiums counting down, keeping the pitchers and batters going. This new rule has shortened the average game time by a lot! The average MLB game time in 2022 was 3 hours and 8 minutes, the average game time in the 2023 season is 2 hours 38 minutes. The game is shortened by so much because now the pitchers have 15 seconds to pitch unless a runner is on base, then they have 20 seconds. If the pitcher is unable to start the motion of a pitch in that time it will be a penalty against the pitcher. But if the batter is delaying and doesn’t give the pitcher enough time to pitch then it will be an automatic strike! Another change that has been made is there are limits on where the defensive players can stand. This allows for more steals and crazier defensive plays. Due to these changes runs are up and batting averages are up, and is making the game almost travel back in time, making it more action packed!  

Cites

www.newyorktimes.com 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/02/27/mlb-rules-2023-shift-pitch-clock-bases/11358317002/