Small sample size reveals huge impact of MLB's new pitch clock

The first 19 spring training games clocked in at an average of two hours and 36 minutes. Over the past three seasons, the average game lasted three hours and seven minutes. (h/t Travis Sawchik)

MLB is debuting a pitch clock this season, with a 30-second timer between batters and a 15-second timer during an at-bat with the bases empty. With runners on base, the timer increases to 20 seconds. 

If a pitcher doesn't begin his pitching motion before the end of the timer, he is charged with an automatic ball. Batters must be set in the batter's box with eight seconds left on the timer or else they are charged with a strike.

The change has already had an impact, with Saturday's Braves-Red Sox game ending in a 6-6 tie after the Braves' Cal Conley was called out on strikes before an 0-2 pitch with the bases loaded after failing to get set in the batter's box by the eight-second mark.

Manny Machado was the first batter to draw a strike for not being set in time for a pitch and the Padres promptly signed him to an 11-year, $350 million extension two days later.

While those two facts have no correlation, MLB definitely hopes the rule change leads to increased profits for itself.

Baseball, once America's national pastime, has taken a backseat in popularity over the last couple of decades to football and basketball. The pitch clock was implemented to speed up the sport and align the average length of its games to those of the NBA.

The quicker tempo is refreshing, but there's no fun in watching a game end because of an infraction. All MLB has to do is ask the 113 million people who tuned in to Super Bowl LVII to see how kindly audiences respond to those scenarios.

Luckily, the Braves-Red Sox game was meaningless preseason drivel.

The real horror will come when a playoff spot -- or worse, a playoff game -- is decided because of a pitch clock violation. 

If the early data grows into a trend, that time will come in a hurry.