The Daily Chart: The Pitch Clock Effect

[Elderberry]

Powerline by Steven Hayward in The Daily Chart June 16, 2023

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/06/the-daily-chart-the-pitch-clock-effect.php

I’ve written before about my Burkean skepticism of a pitch clock for major league baseball, but it does appear to be having a substantial effect on the speed of the game this season:





But the clock may also be having a negative effect on the performances of some elite MLB pitchers:



I haven’t seen a data table yet on offense, but it seems balls hit in play and runs scored are up over last year, too. Not sure yet about batting averages.

[Cyber Liberty]

The "Powers That Be" of MLB want more hits and homers.  It's good for ticket sales.

[cato potatoe]

Mmm - dunno.  Verlander is old and Urias is injured.  Overall the league ERA has not skyrocketed, and much of the increase can be attributed to the unnecessary changes to baserunning. 

The pitch clock was needed IMO because the prima donnas were making the game unwatchable.  The games had lengthened from 2.5 hours in the 1970s to 3 hours and 10 minutes last year.