Bill Maher voices support for MLB's new pitch clock, derides players for dallying around: "Too much scratching your a** in baseball"

MLB's pitch clock has been one of the biggest changes to baseball this season. While the bigger bases have led to more steal attempts, the most pronounced impact certainly comes from the timer.

He said he is a fan of the pitch clock, but maintained that the DH rule was not a good idea, via Sports Illustrated:

"There is too much scratching your a** in baseball. So, you know, I think [the pitch clock] is good. I like it way better than the designated hitter rule—I’ve never gotten behind the designated hitter rule and still think that ruined the game."

Some baseball purists don't seem to like the pitch clock, especially when it comes into play with a violation. At bats and even games have ended due to pitch clock violations.

Maher doesn't see it as a big issue though:

"I understand what they’re seeing, but I think the good outweighs the bad in this case. It doesn’t essentially change the game. The designated hitter rule essentially changed the game. For the worse. I think this does not essentially change the game. It just speeds it up."

The game has been much quicker this season and for all the outrage over the pitch clock violations, they haven't been as impactful as once thought. The only games that have ended due to this were in spring training.

At bats can end and change thanks to a violation, but hitters and pitchers have adjusted and understood that.

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MLB pitch clock dramatically changes game speed

In mid-May, a report surfaced that the pitch clock had had dramatic effects on MLB. In fact, a nearly 30-minute decrease had occurred.

The pitch clock has changed MLB

The average nine-inning game is now about two hours and 38 minutes. Based on the same time frame from last year, the average MLB game length was 3:09. It evened out to 3:04 for the full season, so the pitch clock will likely keep games under about 2:45 for the most part.

People may not like when a pitcher gets an automatic ball or a batter an automatic strike, but it's making baseball far less of a chore to watch this year.