Blue Jays game times down by a shocking amount this spring

The 2023 MLB regular season has yet to begin, but it looks like “brisk baseball” will be the brand of game played around the league moving forward. Thanks to the new pitch clock rules, the overall time of games is down by a staggering amount.

The Toronto Blue Jays are no exception. Barely a week into their Grapefruit League schedule and the pitch clock is working its wonders on the pace of the game. The “sit around and wait” approach no longer applies with this new set of rules.

As with any implementation of new rules, there is a bit of a learning curve, but it looks like Blue Jays pitchers have adjusted to the new guidelines. When the bases are empty, 15 seconds are allowed in between pitches. With men on base, there’s a 20-second pitch clock.

Until now, baseball has been a slow and methodical sport, but with game times averaging well over three hours, MLB desperately needed to speed up the game to keep the attention of its fanbase.

If spring training contests are any sign, things are working so far. A look at the average game times through the Blue Jays’ first six games is vastly different compared to last season.

Measuring the first six spring training games from 2023 compared to their 2022 Grapefruit League schedule, Blue Jays games are averaging two hours and 33 minutes this year compared to three hours and five minutes from one year ago. That’s 32 minutes faster since the recent rule change.

Many players don’t mind the change (in fact, some welcome it), but it could be a big adjustment for the slower and more methodical Blue Jays on the mound like Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano, Kevin Gausman, and Yusei Kikuchi.

According to Baseball Savant’s tempo metric, all four pitchers averaged 19.9 seconds or longer in between pitches during the 2022 regular season. With men on base, that spiked up to 25.2 seconds in between pitchers for the biggest offender, Manoah.

While plenty of pitchers have no problem getting set and throwing before the pitch clock runs out, Manoah often got right to the end of his pitch clock limit during his first spring training outing on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It goes both ways though, as batters with long and drawn-out routines have to be prepared for the pitch to be delivered in a much quicker fashion. Like this hitter who struck out in 20 seconds. Before he knew what happened, he was walking back to the dugout.

Yankees relief pitcher Wandy Peralta struck out a hitter in 20 seconds pic.twitter.com/VwEBzyXH99

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 2, 2023

Going from having virtually no time limit to 15 seconds in between pitches feels like baseball at light speed, but since baseball’s goal was to get these contests under three hours, mission accomplished.

During the 2022 regular season, Blue Jays games averaged three hours and six minutes long, with only five games that turned into a slog of four hours or more. With this new pitch clock and the runner on second in extra innings rule, those four-hour games will soon be a relic.

Less down time in between batters and pitchers will surely benefit everyone. It gets the players off the field a little earlier to recover, and it gets fans home a little earlier to enjoy a not-overpriced sudsy beverage in the comfort of their own home.

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