See How Baseball’s New Rules Changed the Game

Pitchers now have 15 seconds for a delivery, 20 seconds if there’s a runner on base, and batters must be in the box ready to hit with at least eight seconds left. M.L.B. added other changes, including bigger bases and a ban on defensive shifts, to amp up the game’s offense.

We’re only a day in, and more data this season is likely to show other ways the new rules have changed the game. Batting averages may increase, and the league is hoping for more stolen bases. Managers and players have been forced to adapt to perhaps the biggest combined single-season changes in the modern history of the sport, and it’s impossible to pinpoint from one day of games exactly how that will play out.

But here’s one more metric from opening day: The number of hits per hour jumped up, after decades of mostly declining.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/upshot/baseball-opening-pitch-clock.html