Were MLB Opening Day game lengths shorter on average duration than previous years? Impact of pitch clock explored

This season, the MLB has implemented several rule changes, including a new pitch clock, the banning of the shift and an increase in the size of the bases. While fans were unsure of the changes prior to Opening Day, after watching the new pace of play adjustments, fans took to Twitter to praise the new rules.

"The new pitch clock is incredible. Corey Kluber just threw a 28-pitch first inning in 10 minutes. There was barely enough time to think about how shaky he looked. I love it. Pitch clock! Baseball!" - Bill Simmons

One of the most talked about problems with baseball and its ever-shrinking fan base has been the pace of play. Many young viewers, by no help of social media apps such as TikTok, no longer have the attention span to watch baseball, deeming it too slow.

After years, the MLB decided to tinker with the rules of the game in the hopes of increasing the pace of play. Chief among them was the new pitch timer, which was expected to reduce the duration of the game.

The new rules state that a pitcher gets 15 seconds to begin the motion to throw the ball with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base. If he can't do this in time, he will be charged with a ball.

"Marcus Stroman has been called for the first regular season pitch-clock violation in MLB history" - Talkin' Baseball

As seen on Opening Day, the average duration of baseball games has dropped significantly from last year. For example, the game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants wrapped up in 2 hours and 33 minutes, making it the fastest average MLB game in 43 years.

Compared to last season, yesterday's games were an average of 26 minutes shorter. It appears that the new rules will drastically reduce the average time of MLB games, which is something that fans are excited about.

However, it was not even the fastest game yesterday, with the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays game finishing in 2 hours and 4 minutes. Only five games went over three hours, with the scores of three of those games being 10-9, 10-9 and 11-7.

"To say the pitch clock was smash success on Opening Day would be a gross understatement. We're talking best rule change ever. Only 5 of 15 games went over 3 hours. The scores of 3 of the 5 gms that went over 3 hrs: 10-9, 10-9, 11-7. Here are the times for the Opening Day games." - Jimmy Traina

A look at how the pitch clock rules will affect batters in 2023

While Rafael Devers is one of the best players in MLB, he will go down in history as the first batter to be called out for violating the clock. Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher with at least eight seconds on the clock, though they have the option to call a time once per plate appearance, stopping the countdown.

"Rafael Devers is the first player in MLB history to be called out on a clock violation" - Talkin' Baseball

For those taking notes for future bar trivia, Rafael Devers was the first batter and Marcus Stroman was the first pitcher punished for violating the new pitch clock rules.