In the major league (MLB), which introduced a large number of new rules from the 2023 season, significant changes were noticeable during the first month.
The Associated Press reported on the 2nd (Korean time) that MLB recorded an average game time of 2 hours and 37 minutes per 9 innings during the opening month, a decrease of 28 minutes from 3 hours and 5 minutes during the same period last year.
The reason for the significant reduction in game time is the ‘pitch clock’.
Starting this year, MLB introduced a pitch clock rule that requires a pitcher to throw the ball within 15 seconds if there is no runner and within 20 seconds if there is a runner.
When the pitch clock runs, batters must go to bat with at least 8 seconds remaining. This means that you must be ready to hit within 7 seconds if there is no runner, and within 12 seconds if there is a runner.
If the pitcher violates the pitch clock rule, a ball is called, and if the batter violates the pitch clock rule, a strike is awarded.
The reaction to the reduced playing time is not bad.
The Associated Press introduced that players and club staff were able to go home while their families were awake.
“It’s definitely made life easier (with reduced game time),” said 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber (Cleveland Guardians).
Pitch clock violations occurred a total of 313 times in 425 games played last month. 0.74 times per game. The number of violations by the pitcher was 204, which was close to half.
In the number of violations, the New York Mets had the most with 17, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers had the fewest with 4.
MLB not only introduced a pitch clock this year, but also banned defensive shifts that dramatically shift the position of the fielder by analyzing the data and tendencies of the opposing batter, and expanded the base size from 15 square inches to 18 square inches. 크크크벳
As a result, playing time decreased, but batting average, stolen bases, and runs increased.
In the case of left-handed batters, the batting average rose from 0.229 to 0.247 during the same period last year, and the batting average of right-handed batters also rose from 0.234 to 0.250.
BABIP (in-play batting average) also increased by 9 li to 0.292 for left-handed hitters and 0.302 to right-handed hitters by 7 li.
“I think I got about 10 more hits (due to the shift ban),” said New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
As the bases grew, steals increased by 40%. Stealing bases per game increased from 1.0 to 1.4 over the same period last year. The stolen base success rate also rose from 75.5% to 79.2%.
According to MLB recorder Elias Sports Bureau, stolen bases per game were the highest in 25 years since 1999. His stolen base success rate is the highest in history.
As the batting average increased and the number of stolen bases increased, the number of points per game increased from 8.1 last year to 9.2.
Theo Epstein, who advised MLB on the introduction of the new rule, said, “Looking at the data so far, we’re seeing the effect. It’s not just expecting a score from a home run, it’s an increase in batting average in play, and an increase in stolen base attempts and successes. Another hit. score,” he said.