Heading into MLB Opening Day on Thursday there was a lot of debate over new rules the league created during the offseason.
Primarily, the usage of a pitch clock to shorten game times in an era when the consumer simply lacks the attention span to sit and watch a game that lasts three-plus hours.
While there’s going to be some initial hiccups as it relates to the pitch clock and other new rules early in the 2023 season, it does seem like 2023 MLB Opening Day was a smashing success in this regard.
The average game time on Opening Day last season was three hours and 16 minutes. This season? Two hours and 45 minutes. That’s a decrease of more than a half-hour. It’s insane to think about. Cutting a half-hour off game times simply by creating a pitch clock.
From a micro, here’s a look at how long each MLB game lasted on Opening Day:
- Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers: 2:14
- Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Guardians: 2:14
- Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers: 2:21
- Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels: 2:30
- Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals: 2:32
- New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants: 2:33
- Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks: 2:35
- Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros: 2:38
- New York Mets, Miami Marlins: 2:42
- Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres: 2:56
- Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds: 3:02
- Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies: 3:04
- Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals: 3:07
- Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox: 3:10
- Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals: 3:38
By and large, those games that lasted more than three hours were the high-scoring affairs. An example would be Toronto’s 10-9 win over the Cardinals. But you really can’t do too much about that.
High-scoring games require more breaks for pitching changes. That’s one of the primary components to them taking longer.
Related: Sportsnaut’s updated MLB power rankings
Other quick MLB Opening Day notes
Baltimore Orioles star catcher Adley Rutschman made history in an Opening Day win over the Boston Red Sox, registering five hits and reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. That included a season-opening home run.
Rutschman joins Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk (1973) as the only catcher to hit a home run and reach base at least four times on Opening Day since 1901. He’s also just the third player in MLB history to go 5-for-5 with multiple RBI in the opener, joining Billy Herman and Babe Ruth.
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole struck out 11 batters in his team’s opening win over the San Francisco Giants. Those 11 strikeouts represent a Yankees Opening Day record. Cole is also the first player with six strikeouts in the first two innings of his team’s opener since at least 1957.
Los Angeles Angels ace Shohei Ohtani, fresh off being a hero for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, dominated the Oakland Athletics Thursday night. He struck out 10 in six scoreless innings while yielding just two hits. Unfortunately, the pen could not hold the lead with Oakland scoring twice in the botton of the eighth for the 2-1 win.
This is not the way Los Angeles wanted to start a season in which rumors will continue to float about Ohtani’s potential departure in free agency this coming winter.
The Colorado Rockies took out the San Diego Padres Thursday evening. In the process, Colorado became the first team in MLB history to have 17 hits and 17 strikeouts in the same game.
The Boston Red Sox had north of 36,000 fans in attendance on Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles. A majority of them departed early after Baltimore took a 7-1 lead through five innings and were up 10-4 heading into the eighth. An offseason filled with discontent in Beantown has been replaced with a feeling of deja vu following a disastrous 2022 campaign for the ‘Sox.
We couldn’t end without a couple of awesome/funny notes. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright sang the national anthem ahead of their home opener against the Blue Jays. He absolutely killed it, adding another layer to the rich history of MLB Opening Day in St. Louis.
During the Dodgers’ opener against Arizona Thursday evening, a fan made his way on to the field to propose to his girlfriend in the bleachers. He was almost immediately tackled by security on hand. Check out the reaction of Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. It was priceless.
Why couldn’t they let the guy get his answer before going all Rick Monday on him?
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