Major League Baseball reportedly wants to speed up the pace of play next year with the use of a 20-second pitch clock.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com reported the news Monday, noting the 20-second clock (with no runners on base) was used in the minor leagues during the last three seasons. Olney pointed out MLB can implement the rule for the 2018 campaign even without agreement from the Players Association but would rather do so with negotiation so "both sides will be committed moving forward."
This move would immediately force pitchers to adjust considering only five pitchers—among those who threw at least 50 innings—averaged fewer than 20 seconds in between pitches in 2017, per FanGraphs.