What People Are Saying After Day 1 Of Life With The Pitch Clock In Major League Baseball

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Welcome to a new era of Major League Baseball.

Whether it’s here to stay or not is yet to be seen, but there’s not question that the rules changes instituted in the offseason have significantly changed the game.

The most notable of those changes is, of course, the use of a pitch clock.

Under the new rule, pitchers will have 15 seconds to throw a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base. Hitters will need to be in the batter’s box with eight seconds on the pitch clock.

Major League Baseball got its desired result. The average game time was down almost 30 minutes from 2022 to 2023. But it didn’t come without controversy.

Chicago Cubs pitch Marcus Stroman quickly fell victim to the new rule.

While Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers was the first batter to feel the wrath of the clock after failing to get set in the batters box in time.

Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola became victim of an unforeseen consequence of the clock during a meltdown inning against the Texas Rangers.

As was Cleveland Guardians reliever James Karinchak.

But what did fans have to say about the new rule and how it affected them? Well, many enjoyed the shortened games.

Though not everyone was as convinced.

Some even questioned whether fans who like the new pitch clock rules even really liked watching baseball to begin with.

Ultimately, the new rules will likely be a point of contention throughout the season. Major League Baseball will point to shortened game times as a massive success. But unless they lead to an influx of fans at games and watching on TV, it will mean very little.

So where do you stand on the new pitch block? A fan? A hater? Or maybe somewhere in between?