NEW YORK — The average time of a nine-inning major league game dropped to 2 hours, 40 minutes in the first year of the pitch clock, a 24-minute decrease in a season of change that resulted in a spike in batting average and the most stolen bases in nearly 40 years.
Left-handed hitters benefited from the new restrictions on defensive shifts, runners took advantage of the slightly decreased distance between bases, and average fastball velocity set another record.
The average game time dropped to its 1985 level after passing 3 hours for the first time in 2016. It reached a record 3:10 in 2021 before the introduction of the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device helped bring it down to 3:04 last year. Over the objections of the players’ association, MLB instituted a pitch clock set at 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base.
“It took some getting used to, but once you get used to it the game’s a lot faster,” Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said. “There’s not wasted time. The pace was great, so I think it’s here to stay.”
There were nine 3½-hour games, down from a record 390 in 2021.
“I think it’s gone smoothly,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “It’s nice for you to get home a bit earlier. You don’t have the four-hour games anymore.”
Miami had the fastest average at just under 2:35, while the Orioles and Padres topped the majors at 2:44.
MLB’s clock will remain the same for the postseason, which averaged 3:23 for nine-inning games last year.
“There are bigger moments, bigger times where we do need to step back and think about something we just did or think about something that we’re going to be doing pitch-wise or swing-wise,” said Zack Wheeler, who starts the Phillies‘ postseason opener against the Marlins on Tuesday. “I’m not a big fan of the pitch clock, but it is what it is.”
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto thought about how to cope with the clock in October.
“We are going to have to be a little more cognizant of taking the time and maybe using our extra mound visits or finding ways to slow the game down for our pitchers,” he said.
As part of the clock, MLB instituted penalties for violations that included balls against pitchers and strikes against batters. The Mets led with 57 violations, followed by the Rays (52), Pirates (51), Padres (48) and Marlins (47). The Mariners had the fewest with 15.
The Pirates topped pitcher violations with 41, followed by the Yankees with 37 and the Mets and Rays with 36 each. The Mariners had the fewest with six. The Nationals led batter violations with 17, one more than the Mets and Marlins. The Cardinals had just two, one fewer than the Orioles and the White Sox.
There were just four violations of the shift rule requiring two infielders to be on the infield dirt on each side of second base when a pitch is thrown: one each by the Dodgers, Mets, Padres and White Sox.
The major league batting average rose to .248 from .243 last year, which had been its lowest since 1968. The average for left-handed batters, who benefited most from the shift restrictions, increased 11 percentage points to .247, its highest in four years. The average for right-handed hitters rose by two percentage points to .249.
Runs increased to an average of 9.2 per game from 8.6 and stolen bases to 1.4 from 1.0 following the introduction of 18-inch square bases, up from 15 inches. That reduced the distance between first and second, and second and third, by 4½ inches. The 3,503 steals were up from 2,486 last year and the most since 1987. The 80.2% success rate was the highest in big league history, topping the 75.7% in 2021, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Home runs increased to 5,868 from 5,215 but remained well below the record of 6,776 set in 2019.
Batters struck out 41,844 times, up from 40,812, but down from the peak of 42,823 in 2019 when they set a record for the 12th straight season.
Four-seam fastballs averaged 94.2 mph, up from 93.9 mph last year and 93.1 mph in 2015, the first year Statcast started tracking.
There were 3,880 pitches of 100 mph or more, an increase from 3,368 last year and 1,829 in 2021. Pitchers threw four-seam fastballs 32.2% of the time, down from 33.2% in 2022 and a Statcast-era peak of 36% in 2016.
Visiting teams went 105-96 in extra-inning games in the first year the rule starting extra innings with a runner on second was made permanent. Visitors have a 368-358 edge in extra innings since the rule was first adopted as a pandemic alteration in 2020; from 2017 to ’19, home teams had a 312-294 advantage.
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
BOSTON — Red Sox right-hander Hunter Dobbins said on Saturday that he knew his season was probably over when he felt a familiar sensation in his knee.
He was right. Dobbins was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, his second ACL tear in his right knee.
“Yeah. I’ve torn my ACL in this knee before, and it was the same feeling,” he said, standing in the middle of Boston’s clubhouse with a red sleeve on his right leg. “Kind of some denial went into it, tried to go through that warmup pitch, felt the same sensation again, so, at that point, I knew what it was.”
Dobbins tore the same ACL playing high school football.
Covering first base in the second inning of Boston’s 5-4 walk-off win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night, 25-year-old Dobbins stepped awkwardly and limped after recording an out by making a catch on a throw from first baseman Abraham Toro.
Dobbins took one warmup toss before manager Alex Cora stopped him from attempting any more.
“Tough,” Cora said before the Red Sox faced the Rays. “He put himself on the map, right, did a good job for us. When it happened, I thought something minor. Talking to him, he felt it right away. He’s been through that before.”
Dobbins said he found out about Boston’s dramatic win while being examined.
“I was actually in the MRI machine and they were giving me score updates in between each one,” he said. “Right after the last one they said, ‘I think you’d like to hear this, you just won by a walk-off.’ That was pretty cool to hear the guys picked me up.”
The Red Sox placed him on the 15-day injured list Saturday and recalled right-hander Richard Fitts.
“In my head I have Opening Day next year kind of circled,” Dobbins said. “Whether or not that’s realistic, I don’t know, but that’s my goal.”
CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox great Paul Konerko got a present from one No. 14 to another in honor of the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series championship run: a jersey signed by noted Chicago fan Pope Leo XIV.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, presented Konerko a jersey with the new pontiff’s signature on the back during a ceremony prior to the game against the Cleveland Guardians. It had the six-time All-Star’s last name and “Pope Leo” above the No. 14.
Robert Prevost became the first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church when he was elected on May 8. The Chicago-born missionary, who took the name Leo XIV, is a White Sox fan.
Prevost attended the 2005 World Series opener against Houston in Chicago. He watched from Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2 as the White Sox beat the Astros 5-3 on the way to a four-game sweep and their first title since 1917.
In May, the team unveiled a graphic installation near the seat paying tribute to Pope Leo and that moment. The pillar artwork features a waving Pope Leo XIV, along with a picture from the TV broadcast of the future pope sitting with good friend Ed Schmit and his grandson, Eddie.
Members of the 2005 team are in Chicago this weekend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the championship run. The White Sox debuted uniform patches honoring late closer Bobby Jenks, who died last week in Portugal, where he was being treated for stomach cancer. On Friday, the team unveiled a statue of former ace Mark Buehrle.