![]() Week two of spring training looked a lot better than week one. A Rays-Orioles game last weekend got so mixed up, two strikeouts and a walk busted out without a pitch being thrown (thanks to timer goof-ups). You’re envisioning watching baseball games that feel more like that college hoop game you suffered through the other night featuring 67 free throws. Let me guess your worst pitch-clock nightmare. “What we talk about is, let’s just get used to it, deal with it, have fun with it, and if we win a ballgame every night and we get home a half-hour early, I’m happy.” This isn’t going to be violation-palooza “So we don’t complain,” said Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. But the games are flat-out more watchable. Are there unforeseen consequences that might need to be dealt with? Of course. Are there timer-violation calls that sometimes make you scratch your head? Yep. And swapped for a bunch of 2 1/2-hour games played with a rhythm not seen in this sport in 25 years.Īre there issues? Sure. It’s 25 minutes of dead time, which was slowing too many games to a barely watchable slog. It has vacuumed so much dead time out of every game that the average nine-inning game this spring is 25 minutes shorter than last spring so far - and a full half-hour shorter than the average regular-season game last year: But here’s the part that’s not worth debating: The pitch clock works. So here you go - pretty much every new dimension to rule-change baseball that I’ve witnessed so far. I’ve been trying to keep track of every wrinkle, large or small, from Day One. It’s made for one of the most fascinating, closely watched spring trainings ever - for me, anyway. So what has that meant? What has that looked like - as the 15-second pitch clock ticks … as shift bans open up once-overcrowded infield real estate … as pickoff limits and larger bases are already causing teams to lean into the running game as enthusiastically as the Vince Lombardi Packers? Welcome to spring training 2023, where the most tradition-entrenched of all our major sports is evolving in front of our eyes.
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