Brent Rooker USA Today
By Jessica Kleinschmidt on

The new rules were introduced to the season and after a few screams at the clouds, and adjustments, it’s becoming an embraced part of the game.

With that said, there were some growing pains, of course.

As of Thursday, MLB Broadcasting provided the results of the 2023 rule changes which were as follows:

  • The overall results in 9-inning games put the timeframe at 2 hours and 36 minutes. That’s 28 minutes faster than the 3 hours and 4-minute average during the 2022 season.
  • Controlling for the run environment, the year-over-year in 9-inning games is 31 minutes.
  • The average time remaining on the timer during pitch delivery for batters (30 seconds) is 7.2 seconds.
  • Inning breaks and pitching changes have a 2 minute and 15-second timer which has 8.2 seconds remaining.
  • During a 20-second timer with runners on, 7.6 seconds remain.
  • With bases empty during the 15-second timer, 6.6 seconds remain.
  • According to MLB, pitchers are beginning their deliveries with between 6.6 and 8.2 seconds on the timer, indicating “that across all timer settings, pitchers have sufficient time to execute.”

The violations per game on both teams have decreased over time as expected. Heading into the season, the league said there’s a good chance after the first month, we’ll see fewer violations.

  • Spring training averaged 1.30 violations per game.
  • In Week 1: 0.80, Week 2: 0.92, Week 3: 0.63, Week 4: 0.61, Week 5: 0.62
  • 52 % of regular season games have had zero violations.
  • 69% of violations are committed by the pitcher or catcher.

Baserunning also had some changes in numbers with the increase in base sizes.

  • Stolen base attempts have increased to 1.8 per game in 2023. The highest since 2012.
  • The success rate on those attempts is the highest in baseball history.
  • The “disengagement limit” has reduced pickoff attempts by 1.1 percent.

The batting average on balls in play also saw an increase since the shift rule was implemented.

  • BABIP has increased by seven points early in the regular season.
  • Lefties and righties have seen their BABIP on pulled groundballs increased by 25 points and 17 points.

About Jessica Kleinschmidt

Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.

View all posts by Jessica Kleinschmidt