There is no doubt that this season will go down in history as the season the pitch clock changed baseball. Is it also the season of It has been saved It’s too early to talk about baseball, but the effect of the pitch clock is real. With the season almost a quarter over, the average game length is now 27 minutes shorter than last season, and the percentage of games over 3:30 has decreased. Five of the past six seasons have been above 10 percent, but it has fallen off the cliff to 0.4 percent.
But while everyone is watching how fast things are going, there have been some other notable developments.
Here’s what we learned:
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The very expensive Mets are in a big hole. Mets fans are understandably frustrated. The team became a hot topic in the off-season, spending a huge amount of money directed by Steven A. Cohen to bring the team the highest annual salary in major league history. Still, the Mets entered Monday’s game tied for third in the National League East with a 20-21 record, along with the Miami Marlins. It could be argued that despite the injury, the team performed at its best last year, and it didn’t improve after spending all this money, it just cost more.
Good news? Three wild cards in each league means the Mets are just half a game away from qualifying for postseason play. If Justin Verlander hits full steam ahead and Max Scherzer bounces back from suspension and injury, the Mets could easily win one of those three slots, and all went well. It will be in about the same position as last year.
