Jul 11, 2023 4 min read

SEATTLE – Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred will consider increasing time on the pitch clock for the postseason but is reluctant to adjust an innovation the sport considers a great success.

In the first season of the clock, the average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 38 minutes, on track to be the fastest since 1984. It is down from 3:04 last year and 3:09 in 2021, the last season before PitchCom was introduced.

“We’re going to continue to talk to the players,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday. “I think you ought to play the postseason the way you play the regular season. There’s exceptions. I’m open-minded on that topic.”

The clock is set at 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. There also are restrictions on defensive shifts and limits on pitcher disengagements.

“I don’t believe there’s any player, nor do I believe there are too many folks that want to have a new rule dramatically affect a game in a pennant chase or in the playoffs,” union head Tony Clark told the BBWAA. “Players believe and we’ve been pretty consistent with this, that there are some adjustments that could be beneficial in the grand scheme of things so that we’re not having a conversation about a new rule and instead focused in on the game being played.”

MLB has a majority of the 11-member competition committee, which includes four players.

“We are comfortable with the way the clock and the violations, particularly late in the game in high-leverage situations we’ve been watching, have been managed,” Manfred said.

There were 721 violations through July 4, of which 501 were by pitchers, 208 by batters and 12 by catchers. Philadelphia’s Craig Kimbrel lead currently with 11 violations, followed by Toronto’s Chris Bassitt with nine and San Diego’s Joe Musgrove with seven.

“In a big spot,” Kimbrel said Monday, “if it’s 1-2, 0-2, I’m really thinking about my pitch and wanting to make a good pitch. I’m not going to rush just to get the pitch off. I’d rather take the ball.”

Left-handed batters are hitting .248, up 13 points through the similar point last season. Righties are hitting .248, up one point, leaving the overall batting average up six points.

Runs per game have increased to 9.1 from 8.7 and steals per game to 1.4 from 1.0.

Average attendance of 28,404 is up 8.1% from a similar time last year and on track to be the highest since 2018 and MLB says the median age of ticket buyers is down 3 years from 2022. This is the first season since 2000 with a balanced schedule.

MLB experimenting

with new baseballs

Pristine white baseballs that would not require rubbing are under consideration by Major League Baseball as a way to solve the issue of pitchers using sticky substances for better grip.

“We continue to work with the people at Dow Chemical on developing a tacky ball,” Manfred said. “It would literally eliminate all – well, not all – but many of the variables in the current process. It would come out of a sealed foil pouch at the ballpark. No individual mudding.”

MLB executive vice president Morgan Sword said the balls were tested in the first half of this season in the Double-A Southern League. The balls would retain colored stitches.

Five pitchers have been suspended for 10 games each since MLB began its crackdown on banned grip substances in June 2021 by instituting regular inspections by umpires.

Seattle’s Hector Santiago and Arizona’s Caleb Smith served suspensions in 2021 and three were disciplined this season: the Mets’ Max Scherzer, the Yankees’ Domingo Germán on May 17 and the Mets’ Drew Smith on June 14.

“The suspensions that we have had would fall into the category of clear-to-egregious violations,” Manfred said. “I understand that feeling someone’s hand is inherently subjective. I think this is an area where umpires, again, with a difficult topic, have shown great judgment and discretion. I think gray areas, players have definitely been given the benefit of the doubt.”

Baseballs currently are rubbed with mud to make them less slick. MLB standardized rubbing procedures among the 30 teams last year.