https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-downside-of-baseballs-data-revolutionlong-games-less-action-1507043924 Frequent pitching changes, like this one being made by the Cleveland Indians during last year’s World Series, are making games longer. Al Tielemans/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images The Downside of Baseball’s Data Revolution—Long Games, Less Action After years of ‘Moneyball’-style quantitative analysis, major-league teams are setting records for inactivity Frequent pitching changes, like this one being made by the Cleveland Indians during last year’s World Series, are making games longer. Games this season saw an average gap of 3 minutes, 48 seconds between balls in play, an all-time high. There were more pitcher substitutions than ever, the most time between pitches on record and longer games than ever. Statistics showing precisely when starting pitchers become less effective have prompted teams to remove them from games earlier than before.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 03, 2017 15:19 UTC