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The 2023 Major League Baseball season has brought some significant changes to ‘America’s Pastime.’

Pitchers are now only allowed two pickoff moves per plate appearance. They banned the shift, which now requires all four infielders to be on the dirt, with two each on either side of second base. The bases were increased in size to limit injuries and increase stolen bases.

The changes intended to increase offense and, subsequently, viewership in baseball. But one significant change has been at the center of controversy throughout the season: the pitch clock. Pitchers now have just 15 seconds to throw a pitch with empty bases and 20 seconds with runners on. Hitters must be in the box with eight seconds left on the clock.

In theory, introducing the pitch clock was meant to shorten the length of games. And it has worked out so far to MLB’s credit. 

The average length of a nine-inning major league game in 2022 was 3 hours and 4 minutes. As of now, the average in 2023 is 2 hours and 42 minutes. In fact, only nine games during the 2023 season have eclipsed 3 hours and 30 minutes. There were 231 games of that length in 2022 and 390 in 2021.

Going into the season, I was hesitant about the idea of a pitch clock. I like to consider myself a baseball “purist,” and I had no inclination to shorten the games. I didn’t think anything was wrong with the game I love and saw no reason to change it. I was not too fond of the pitch clock idea because I thought it would compromise the integrity of the game. 

However, I gave the pitch clock and all the new rules a chance, and I must say it has certainly impacted how I consume baseball games in a positive way.

Earlier this year, I sat in center field for Red Sox Opening Day at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles. Despite the cold weather and the Sox losing, I enjoyed the game as if nothing had changed. The game still had a picnic feel to it, which is common at all major-league games throughout the regular season, especially if the home team isn’t doing too well.

However, my experience got me thinking. What will the postseason be like with all these new rules, especially the pitch clock?

After much deliberation and research on both angles, I have come to a simple catharsis.

A pitch clock would undermine everything that postseason baseball is about.

Postseason baseball games aren’t picnics by any means. They aren’t the games you would take the whole family out for a lovely afternoon at the ballpark. They are intense, strategic, and unforgiving games where one error could cost a team its season. Tickets are expensive, and crowds are typically rowdy in anticipation of a big play in their team’s favor. It’s where the games matter the most.

Baseball is a sport filled with intense pressure due to its pitch-by-pitch nature. Every at-bat is meaningful in the playoffs, just like every play matters in a playoff football game. Every pitch matters in a tight moment in a crucial playoff game, with tension and pressure building after every pitch. A pitch clock would ruin the anticipation and excitement postseason baseball provides millions of people.

MLB is no stranger to changing up the rules for the postseason. The designated runner rule has been used since 2020 to prevent long extra-inning games by ensuring each team has a runner on second to begin every inning beginning in the tenth. The postseason will not feature the designated runner rule.

Take the 2023 World Baseball Classic final as an example. Although not technically a “playoff game,” the World Baseball Classic is baseball’s version of soccer’s World Cup. The tension and excitement in the air is comparable to baseball’s postseason. Many players and coaches have gone on to say the atmosphere was better than a playoff game.

The tournament came down to Los Angeles Angels teammates Shohei Ohtani, representing Team Japan, and Mike Trout, representing Team USA, facing off, with the Japanese side clinging to a one-run advantage. It’s important to note the tournament did not feature a pitch clock.

In an at-bat that lasted nearly three minutes, Ohtani got Trout to chase on an outside slider to win the championship for Japan. But the build-up of the moment and the anticipation of the result made this moment so special for baseball fans. The crowd on the edge of their seats reacting to every pitch makes baseball like no other sport.

Use the 2004 American League Championship Series between heated rivals Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees as another example. In game 4, with the Yankees up three games to none in the series and three outs away from heading to their seventh World Series in 10 years, legendary Yankee closer Mariano Rivera walked the leadoff batter, Kevin Millar, in the bottom of the ninth with the Yankees leading 4-3.

Pinch-runner Dave Roberts would replace Millar in an attempt to get the tying run home. Rivera would check Roberts three times at first base, trying to prevent a steal attempt before even delivering a pitch to his next batter, Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller.

In one of the most iconic stolen bases in baseball history, Roberts finally stole second base and put himself in scoring position. On Rivera’s first pitch to Mueller, he would eventually score on a Mueller RBI single, handing Rivera a rare blown save in the postseason.

The beauty and significance of this moment lie in the little, often overlooked details. It won’t show up in any official record of the game, but the weight of the moment was on full display throughout that inning.

A four-pitch walk and an RBI single that ultimately turned the tide in Boston’s favor suddenly brought a nervous, almost depressed crowd to life as they would become the first team to come back from down three games to none to win the series in seven.

The beauty of this moment lies in its anticipation. The insurmountable odds the Red Sox faced in this game and series all narrowed and conquered by a pitch-by-pitch approach. Every pitch felt important because every pitch was important. It played out naturally and didn’t feel rushed. That will be missing from this year’s playoffs with the implementation of the pitch clock.

Unfortunately, the MLB has already decided they would keep the pitch clock for the postseason, so we will have no choice but to wait and see how well it works this year before determining whether or not the league needs to make changes.