We're four days into the pitch clock era and the verdict appears almost unanimous: What took so long? I can imagine what one of those old circus posters in all-capital letters would look like:
BASEBALL IS BETTER THAN EVER!!!!
MORE HITS!! MORE STEALS!! LESS DEAD TIME!!!!
YOU STILL NEED 27 OUTS TO WIN!!!!
Through the season's first 50 games, the average game time has been 2 hours, 39 minutes -- down 25 minutes from last year's nine-inning average. With restrictions on the shift, the league average on balls in play is up to .301 from .290, causing a two-point increase in overall batting average. With restrictions on the number of pickoff attempts, stolen bases are up a whopping 37%, with an impressive 84% success rate, giving us the highest rate of steals since 1997.
Sure, some of those offensive gains are modest, but keep in mind: (A) we haven't seen most teams' fourth or fifth starters yet, and (B) offense is usually a little lower in April than the rest of the season. The league batting average last April was just .232 before climbing to .243 by the end of the season. If the league can improve 11 points on the .245 average we've seen so far, a .256 mark would be the highest since a .257 average in 2010.