If you’ve been watching Cubs games and they seem faster, you’re not imagining it.
The first 10 Cubs games this spring have averaged two hours, 33 minutes, and that’s nearly 30 minutes faster than the average of the first 10 Cubs spring games over the previous five seasons.
Here are the numbers.
Cubs spring game times, first 10 games, 2018-23
| YEAR | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | 3:06 | 3:25 | 3:26 | 3:19 | 2:46 | 2:52 |
| Game 2 | 2:54 | 2:57 | 2:44 | 2:39 | 3:11 | 3:02 |
| Game 3 | 2:46 | 2:51 | 3:12 | 3:45 | 2:54 | 3:58 |
| Game 4 | 2:04 | 2:56 | 3:08 | 3:43 | 2:44 | 3:22 |
| Game 5 | 2:11 | 3:14 | 2:30 | 2:56 | 3:27 | 2:24 |
| Game 6 | 2:35 | 3:16 | 3:18 | 3:11 | 2:31 | 2:17 |
| Game 7 | 2:35 | 2:45 | 2:57 | 3:04 | 2:52 | 3:02 |
| Game 8 | 2:14 | 3:12 | 2:25 | 2:34 | 3:03 | 3:11 |
| Game 9 | 2:14 | 2:52 | 3:02 | 3:22 | 3:00 | 2:42 |
| Game 10 | 2:52 | 3:18 | 3:21 | 2:49 | 3:19 | 3:03 |
| AVERAGE | 2:33 | 3:05 | 3:00 | 3:08 | 2:58 | 2:59 |
The differences are almost shocking.