MLB and Commissioner Rob Manfred have been tweaking baseball rules over the last few seasons in an effort to improve the pace of play.
Truth be told, the two major things that have been done in this regard — the automatic intentional walk and the reduction in mound visits — have shaved seconds off game times, not minutes. The one thing that could really help this — a pitch clock — they refuse to do. (The automatic IBB — the one I’ve dubbed “The Manfred” — has had one unintended consequence: Intentional walks as a whole are at an all-time low and the Astros in 2019 became the first team ever to go through an entire season without issuing one.