Pitch clock

A pitch clock displayed at Werner Park in 2015

A pitch clock is used in college baseball and Minor League Baseball to limit the amount of time a pitcher uses before he throws the ball to the hitter.

In college baseball, the Southeastern Conference experimented with using pitch clocks in 2010. Pitchers were given twenty seconds to throw the pitch, or a ball would be added to the count. Similarly, a batter stepping out of the batter's box with less than five seconds on the clock will be assessed an additional strike.^[1] After the 2010 season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association sought to make the pitch clocks mandatory,^[2] and instituted it for the 2011 college baseball season, but only for when there are no runners on base.^[3]

Pitch clocks made their professional debut in the Arizona Fall League in 2014. On January 15, 2015, Major League Baseball announced it will use a 20-second pitch clock for Double-A and Triple-A teams during the 2015 season.^[4] Pitchers were given twenty seconds to throw the pitch, with the punishment of a ball awarded to the batter if not followed.^[5] Along with other rule changes addressing the pace of the game, the clocks contributed to a 12-minute reduction in game times at those levels between the 2014 and 2015 seasons, compared to the leagues that did not use the clock, which saw game times change from an increase of three minutes per game to a decrease in five minutes per game.^[6]

See also

• Play clock
• Shot clock

References

External links

• "Pace of Game". Major League Baseball.