SI.com's Tom Verducci issued a report Wednesday detailing several factors that have contributed to MLB games averaging six minutes longer — 2 hours 43 minutes — through the same number of games last season:
• The average of 4.1 ABS challenges has added 63 seconds • Pitchers using more of the pitch clock • An increase in walks due to ABS and a tighter strike zone • An increase in batters taking their timeout in the box • More pitches being called from the dugout
My take: If all those things add just six minutes, I'm OK with it, but if this pitch-calling from the dugout proliferates, it could be an issue — Verdicci wrote on the Rockies and Marlins are doing it exclusively — with an average of 1.5 seconds more per pitch. Easy fix: Give the dugout a PitchCom.
THE ASYLUM
Report: MLB games longer
SI.com's Tom Verducci issued a report Wednesday detailing several factors that have contributed to MLB games averaging six minutes longer — 2 hours 43 minutes — through the same number of games last season:
• The average of 4.1 ABS challenges has added 63 seconds
• Pitchers using more of the pitch clock
• An increase in walks due to ABS and a tighter strike zone
• An increase in batters taking their timeout in the box
• More pitches being called from the dugout
My take: If all those things add just six minutes, I'm OK with it, but if this pitch-calling from the dugout proliferates, it could be an issue — Verdicci wrote on the Rockies and Marlins are doing it exclusively — with an average of 1.5 seconds more per pitch. Easy fix: Give the dugout a PitchCom.
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