MLB games averaging 2 hours, 3...

In Arizona for spring training, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs by a score of 6-3 on Tuesday. The game wasn't all that intriguing. In his debut start in the Cactus League for the Cubs, pitcher Drew Smyly gave up five hits and two runs over two innings of work. Both Nelson Velazquez and Abraham Toro homered after entering the game in the later innings. 13 pitchers were brought out by the squad as a whole to get the job done.

At this time last year, the intriguing number would have been surprising and appeared at the bottom of the box score. The game lasted for two hours and eleven minutes.

Games like that have become the norm at spring training this year thanks to the introduction of MLB's pitch clock, which requires pitchers to start their deliveries within 15 seconds of receiving the ball with bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base, while batters must be ready with eight seconds left on the clock. The data through one week of play indicates MLB is heading toward the fastest pace it has seen in decades. Two hours and 37 minutes.

That's how long the average nine-inning game between MLB teams in spring training has lasted this year with the pitch clock through 94 games. That number includes split-squad games, but does not include games involving non-MLB teams or games called early for rain.

How will the pitch clock affect MLB's regular season?

The large caveat to the average game length so far is that spring training games have major differences from regular-season games, but those differences could still be lengthening games, meaning the upcoming regular-season games could be even shorter.

This week's worth of games has seen an average of 11.35 runs scored per game, 2.78 more runs than last year's regular-season average. That's likely because of a lower quality of pitching, both because pitchers are still getting up to speed and teams are going much deeper into their organizational depth charts for arms. Because more runs correlates to longer games, the regular season could go by at an even more brisk pace once the scoreboard calms down.

On the other hand, spring training games usually aren't intense enough to see mid-inning pitching changes and they don't go to extra innings, hence they might naturally be a bit shorter than normal. But even that shortening might be a little overblown, as the average length of nine-inning games last year was still three hours and three minutes and we haven't seen that stat go below two hours and 37 minutes since 1984.

What about MLB's other rules changes?

MLB's pitch clock is the most visible rule change this year, but it isn't the only rule change being instituted.

The league has also banned shifts, limited pick-off attempts and increased the size of its bases. The intention behind the moves is to adjust the game's style for more balls in play and stolen bases — a direct push back against the widely lamented Three True Outcome-heavy state of the modern game — and it looks like those changes might be working too.

Entering Thursday, the team stats on MLB's site worked out to a .319 batting average on balls in play this spring, the statistic that measures how often balls in play are converted to outs. The league-wide mark for the regular season has steadily fallen over the past five years as shifts became more prevalent, going from .300 in 2017 to .290 last season.