09/28/26 11:24:00
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09/28 10:58 CDT MLB average game time up nearly 4 minutes to 2:42, partly
because of robot umpires
MLB average game time up nearly 4 minutes to 2:42, partly because of robot
umpires
NEW YORK (AP) --- The average time of a nine-inning Major League Baseball game
increased by 3 minutes, 43 seconds this season to 2 hours, 42 minutes following
the introduction of robot umpires.
MLB said Monday that 61 seconds of this year's increase was attributed to the
Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, which allows batters, catchers and
pitchers to appeal umpire ball/strike decisions to a computer.
MLB's average fell from 3:04 in 2022 to 2:40 the following year when the pitch
clock was instituted and decreased to 2:36 in 2024, its lowest since 1984's
2:35. It rose to 2:38 last year.
The average game time passed three 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 in 2022.
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