
Here's How ESPN's MLB Production Team Is Adapting to the New Pitch Clock Rule changes spur broadcasters to modify their approach to baseball coverage By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Monday, March 20, 2023 - 2:31 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The first pitch of the 2023 MLB season has yet to be thrown, but much has already been made of the new pitch clock. Although the new rule - one of several intended to improve the pace of play this season - has forced pitchers and hitters to dramatically rethink their routines, broadcasters like ESPN are having to alter their approach to covering the game.
Whenever there are big rule changes like this, every [broadcaster] has to address and deal with documenting the action as the primary goal and using your discretionary time to the best of your ability, says ESPN VP, Production, Phil Orlins. Obviously, it feels like a dominant storyline during Spring Training, and I think it's going to feel like an important storyline the first couple of weeks of the season. But I do think it's going to naturally ebb and flow to where it becomes more routine as time goes on - for [broadcasters], players, and fans.
Orlins has a basis for the claim: the pitch clock was tested in the minor leagues last season, and violations dropped dramatically as players got more accustomed to the rule. Nonetheless, as the age of the pitch clock begins, production teams and announcers have had to fundamentally change the way they present the game to fans.
How the Pitch Timer Works As a result of the 30-second pitch timer between batters - along with the elimination of defensive shifts and addition of enlarged bases - games that previously pushed well past the three-hour mark are taking 2 hours or less during Spring Training.
According to the official MLB rulebook, between pitches, a 15-second timer will be in place with the bases empty and a 20-second timer with runners on base. The pitcher must begin his motion to deliver the pitch before the expiration of the pitch timer. Pitchers who violate the timer are charged with an automatic ball. Batters who violate it are charged with an automatic strike. Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark or be charged with an automatic strike.
MLB is instituting a 30-second pitch timer this season.
With runners on base, the timer resets if the pitcher attempts a pickoff or steps off the rubber. Pitchers are limited to two disengagements (pickoff attempts or step-offs) per plate appearance, but the limit is reset if a runner or runners advance. In the event of a third, unsuccessful pickoff attempt, the runner automatically advances one base.
Learning Curve During Spring Training The most important issue for broadcasters is how to present the pitch clock on-screen. Although most agree that it should be integrated into the miniboard (or scorebug) graphic, the debate continues on when: whether it should appear only during key moments (for example, 10 seconds left) or for the entire 30 seconds.
During Spring Training, many broadcasters were not given access to the pitch-clock data until seven seconds were left on the clock. As a result, many have opted to integrate the old-school camera shot of the clock (reminiscent of the NBA's shot clock half a century ago) into the miniboard graphic. During Spring Training coverage, ESPN puts the camera shot of the pitch clock just to the right of the miniboard graphic.
The way our miniboard lays out with a horizontal rectangle layout, notes Orlins, it happened to be easy to align the old-school camera shot alongside the miniboard and still work within our established space. It was definitely good to Get some Spring Training in [with the pitch clock], but, that said, we expect to get to the API-triggered data version in the miniboard on Opening Night and integrated into that same amount of space where we did the camera shot.
We're confident, he continues, that we're going to get access to the API for the pitch clock much earlier [in the at-bat] by Opening Night. We're in discussions on that right now. I think it's absolutely mandatory that we have it [displayed] before eight seconds since the batter has to be in the box and engaged at that point and probably well before that.
The Scorebug Impact During the regular season, ESPN plans to integrate the pitch clock into the scorebug alongside a pitch total along the bottom right of the miniboard and will incorporate additional graphical alerts as the clock gets closer to zero to indicate a pitcher or batter violation (see video example below).
I've never believed that constantly taking things in and out [of the miniboard] to make it more subtle was less intrusive to the viewer, says Orlins. For the most part, we are going to just leave [the pitch clock] there and let it roll so everyone can see it. When the viewer wants to find it, they'll find it; when they don't, it will be far less jarring than constantly bringing it in and out. If people see the clock count from 30 with the next hitter coming up, that's just fine. It's more comfortable and constantly available - just like the experience [for fans] at the ballpark.
Impact on the Front Bench Although the miniboard aspect is most apparent on-screen, the pitch clock's existential challenge to baseball coverage is at the front bench and in the announcers booth. The average time between batted-ball events in the middle of the 20th century was roughly 2 minutes, but today's directors, producers, and playcallers have typically had nearly four minutes on average between key moments.
Says Orlins, It's very similar to football, where [broadcasters] had a rhythm based on huddles after every play and then, inside the final two minutes, teams start going into hurry-up o
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...
08/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real time visualization, has named Paul Maroni as Vice Pres...
08/05/2025
This year's UK Pavilion in hall 5, once again managed by Tradefair, will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to discuss and be involved in cutting ...
08/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest energy-efficient transmitters and 5G Broadcast technologies, designed to support network operators and content provider...
08/05/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations ...
08/05/2025
SEATTLE LumaTouch is partnering with CNN Academy to improve mobile storytelling techniques and support training across all of CNN Academy's training simulat...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association ...
08/05/2025
Senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake has announced that One America News Network (OAN) will provide newsfeed services for fre...
08/05/2025
EdMon Expands as AI-Driven Post Production Workflows Gains Traction in Sweden an...
08/05/2025
Using Luma Mattes in Adobe Premiere Pro
Graham Quince May 7, 2025
0 Comments
This very quick tutorial shows you how to take an RGB clip and apply its ...
08/05/2025
OpenDrives Unveils Free Your Data' Initiative with New Astraeus Cloud-Nativ...
08/05/2025
Student Spotlight: Grigori Balasanyan The Armenian composer, who was named Boston Conservatory at Berklees 2025 student commencement speaker, talks about his ...
08/05/2025
08 May 2025
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board at 2025 AGM, Founder Augie Fabela ...
08/05/2025
Comedy and entertainment channel U&Dave bring back their #1 ranked programme of ...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils New Premieres Spanning Film and Music
Slick Rick's Victory with Idris Elba a...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Lineup for Inaugural Storytelling Summit
11-Day Industry Event Launches with Tal...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
08/05/2025
Expect even more chaos this July with Harriet Webb leading the returning cast, p...
08/05/2025
Back to All News
Now in Production: Comedy Action Film Husbands in Action'...
08/05/2025
TenneT relies on Arvato Systems for market communication
Energy industry: Impressive market communication know-how and system integration expertise
G tersloh...
08/05/2025
When Taiki Hamamoto, 22, came across a Hanafuda deck at his local game shop, he was intrigued. He had grown up playing the traditional Japanese card game with f...
08/05/2025
The Liveline is now open , said Joe Duffy earlier today, as he previewed this af...
08/05/2025
RT , in association with the BBC, Screen Ireland and Cineflix Rights has reveale...
08/05/2025
Artificial intelligence is helping identify and treat diseases faster with better results for humankind. Natural disasters like wildfires are next.
Fires in th...
08/05/2025
Calling all wiseguys - 2K's acclaimed Mafia franchise is available to stream...
08/05/2025
As AI use cases continue to expand - from document summarization to custom software agents - developers and enthusiasts are seeking faster, more flexible ways t...
07/05/2025
Discovering music should feel effortless and fun. That's why Spotify continu...
07/05/2025
SBS and NITV mark National Reconciliation Week with compelling premieres recogni...
07/05/2025
SBS commences search for a new Western Sydney production hub location
7 May, 2025
Media releases
SBS has today launched a Request for Expressions of Intere...
07/05/2025
Warsaw, Poland - April 28, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest March All Screens Video Landscap...
07/05/2025
LONDON Movie fans hoping to save money by waiting until their favorite new films appear on streaming services will have to wait a bit longer now, according to a...
07/05/2025
MECCA, Saudi Arabia Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has selected Grass Valley to provide a major technology upgrade of its broadcast facility here....
07/05/2025
Sony and Nevion provide guidance on IP network architecture options for live pro...