MLB, MiLB Game Times Down Again In 2024 After Pitch Clock Tweak

Image credit: MLB Pitch Clock (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It is barely noticeable compared to the changes of past years, but the time needed for a standard nine-inning game continued to drop across Major and Minor League Baseball this season.

On average, MLB and MiLB leagues saw a one-minute reduction in 2024.

With one week of major league games to go, the average game time of 2:37 per nine-inning MLB game is the shortest it’s been for either league since the mid-1980s. The National League’s average time of 2:37 is the fastest since 1985’s 2:35, while the American League’s average of 2:36 is the quickest for AL nine-inning games since 1984, which was also 2:36.

The number is a reduction of three minutes from the 2023 average game time and a reduction of 27 minutes from the 3:03 average nine-inning game in 2022, the final year without the pitch clock.

There are similar reductions in the upper levels of the minors. The Triple-A nine-inning average of 2:41 is one minute less than 2023. Double-A games were three minutes shorter at 2:35, and High-A games went down one minute at 2:33.

Low-A is the only level that saw an increase, as the average nine-inning game took 2:34, up one minute from last year’s 2:33.

Rookie ball, which is the only level that does not use a pitch clock, saw an average of 3:09 for a nine-inning game, down from 3:12 in 2023.

Pitch clock rules were tweaked slightly this year, with the time between the MLB pitch clock being reduced from 20 to 18 seconds with runners on base.