How long are Baseball Games? We take a look at MLB, College, HS, and Youth Game Times!

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The length of baseball games has gotten a significant amount of attention in recent years as Major League Baseball has tried to put emphasis on speeding up the game.

If you are heading to a baseball game, you may be wondering how long the average baseball game is and you can plan your day or night around it.

So, how long are baseball games?

Major league baseball games are averaging right around 2:40 minutes for the 2023 season. This is a vast improvement from 2022 where the average game length was 3:06. College Baseball games are around 3 hours long but can go much longer due to bad pitching. High School games are normally 2 hours, and Youth baseball games are between an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes.

Average MLB Baseball Game Length By Year

Below is the average major league baseball game length according to baseball-reference in 5-year increments that show how much the game has changed over time:

Year Average Length of Game
2023 2:38 (Through 1st Month)
2022 3:06
2016 3:04
2011 2:56
2006 2:51
2001 2:58
1996 2:48
1991 2:48
1986 2:48
1981 2:38
1976 2:29

MLB Rule Changes to Speed Up Games

Prior to the 2023 season, some major changes were introduced to try and speed up game times.

Pitch Timer

  • There is now a pitch timer to help encourage pitchers to speed up the amount of time in between pitches. When there are no runners on base, there is a 15 second timer and when there is a runner on base pitchers need to deliver a pitch within 20 seconds.
  • Hitters are allowed to get one timeout for every at-bat and must be in the batter’s box with 8 seconds left.
  • Pitchers can only attempt a pickoff or step off the rubber a maximum of 2 attempts per batter

Shift Restrictions

The shift exploded in popularity over the last 5 years as data analytics helped teams determine the highest probability places to stand in the field to make an out.

MLB changed the rules to encourage higher batting averages and more in-game action with the following changes:

  • Two infielders must be positioned on either side of 2nd base when pitch is delivered
  • All infielders must have their feet in the infield when pitcher is on the rubber.

 Why were Major League Baseball games slowing down?

Several contributing factors have made the major league game slow down over time.

Here are some of the most common reasons that have contributed to the slow pace of play:

Multiple pitching changes

As baseball has advanced, it has also become more specialized as data has helped indicate what pitchers give teams the best odds against certain types of hitters.

For instance, from the 1950s to the 1970s, there was an average of around 2 to 2.5 pitching changes per game.

In the last five years, the average number of pitchers in nine-inning games has shot up to 4.43 pitchers per game in the last year.

Here is the average range of pitchers per game by decade going back to the early 1900s:

Year Pitchers used by Game
2020 4.43 
2015 4.11
2010 3.87
2005 3.71
2000 3.54
1995 3.45
1990 3.02
1985 2.74
1980 2.56
1975 2.40

Mound visits


Before the 2016 season, there was no limit on the time a coach could visit the mound to discuss playing situations with pitchers.

Mound visits would slow games down significantly as coaches would use these visits to buy time to get the next pitcher in the bullpen ready.

In 2018 a rule was made that limited the number of mound visits per game to 6 which was intended to help speed up the game.

Unfortunately, with the number of pitching changes in a game going up the rule change has been counterproductive as the mound visit rule change has been offset by a higher number of pitchers that are coming into the game and need to warm up and get ready to pitch.

Here is a good article breaking down the rules surrounding mound visits between the head coach, pitching coach, and fielders.

Baseball Game Length

Replay reviews

In 2008, Major League Baseball instituted replay review which gave teams the ability to dispute certain calls throughout the game.

Over the years, many games were impacted by missed calls by umpires who can only cover so much ground.

Instant replay was seen as a solution to eliminating obvious umpire errors by having another set of eyes at the MLB command center in New York by full-time major league baseball umpires.

Here are the types of baseball plays that are reviewable in a Major League Baseball game:

Home Run Calls

most everyone remembers the famous home run that was caught by fan Jeffrey Maier during the New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles during the 1996 ALCS:

Plays like this and also high towering home runs that are in line with the Foul Poles have been difficult to gauge if they were fair or foul at first glance.

With replay, questionable home run calls are now reviewable, which is great for accuracy; however, it is a new element that has been added to slow Major League baseball games down.

Fair Foul Calls

Baseball players are hitting the ball harder and faster than ever before, and line drives down the first base, and the third baseline can be difficult to tell whether or not they land in fair or foul territory.

Replay has given teams the ability to challenge fair or foul calls as well, which are much easier to detect with every MLB game being broadcasted on television in today’s games.

Force/Tag Plays

“Bang Bang” plays are plays where an out is recorded at a simultaneous time of when a player is touching the base and are also difficult to get correctly by umpires.

Replay can help provide slow-motion footage to avoid errors with these types of plays.

Here are a few other notable plays that can also be reviewed:

  • Collisions at home plate
  • Hit by Pitch
  • Tags
  • Placement of runners
  • Interference or Double Plays

    What is the longest game in baseball history?

    The longest baseball extra-inning game in history was a minor league baseball game between two triple-a teams, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings, which lasted 33 innings and lasted 8 hours and 25 minutes of playing time with a final score of 3-2.

    What is the longest Major League Baseball Game?

    Here is a list of the longest games in Major League Baseball history:

    Game Length
    1920 Brooklyn Robins vs. Boston Braves 26 Innings
    1884 Chicago White Sox vs. Brewers  25 innings
    1974 Cardinals vs. Mets  25 Innings
    1968 Astros vs. Mets 24 Innings
    1945 Tigers vs. Athletics 24 Innings
    1906 Athletics vs. Americans 24 Innings
    1964 Giants vs. Mets  23 Innings
    2008 Rockies vs. Padres 22 Innings

    What is the shortest baseball game?

    The two shortest nine-inning games in MLB history are:

    • 1929 Chicago 1 vs. Washington 0
    • 1944 Boston 2 vs. Cincinatti 0

    How long is the average minor league baseball game?

    Most minor league games are nine innings but there are occasional doubleheaders in which minor league teams play two games of seven innings.

    Minor league games are typically much faster than the average MLB game because the minor leagues do not have the depth on the pitching staff to make as many in-game pitching moves as they do at the big league level.

    A quick look through games during the last minor league season will show that most games are around 2 hours and 30 minutes.

    You can view minor league game times by visiting MILB.com and scrolling down to the very bottom of the box score of the teams that you are interested in.

    If you are attending a minor league baseball game, checking the recent box scores of the team you are going to watch on Milb.com is a great way to check on their

    How long is a collegiate baseball game?

    College baseball games are similar lengths to major league baseball games and can go much longer in some situations. 

    College games last a long time because the players use aluminum bats, and they typically produce more runs than major league games.

    Games can occasionally last more than four hours as college teams do not have the pitching depth that professional teams have.

    In collegiate games, if one team is up 9-0 the team that is leading the game may bring younger pitchers into the game to get them experience, which could lead to very long games with high scores.

    D1Baseball.com is a good source to get information on college baseball scores, and you can get a good idea of the length of a baseball game by checking the box scores.

    How long is the average high school baseball game?

    High School baseball games vary depending on the high school level.

    High school games are typically seven-inning games but the pace of play varies depending on the talent level of the high school.

    Larger high schools typically have better baseball teams and better fielding teams and hitting teams than smaller schools have.

    As a result, the average game time can vary from as short as an hour and a half to 2 and a half hours or more if there are a ton of errors filled with sloppy play.

    How long are youth baseball games?

    Youth baseball games are normally 6 innings or less.  The Little League rulebook provides a ton of great information on the length of youth baseball games. 

    According to the Little League rulebook youth baseball leagues may establish games that consist of 6 innings for you and intermediate and 7 innings for the junior/senior division or meet a 1 hour and 45-minute time limit.

    Why do baseball games start at 7:05?

    Baseball games start at odd times because of TV broadcasting contracts that determine different time slots for MLB games to start.

    You may see a 7:10, 7:07, or 7:15 start from time to time in Major League Baseball from time to time.

    This gives the announcers time to announce the starting lineups, sing the National Anthem, TV Commercials, etc.

    The White Sox signed a deal a while back with 7-Eleven to start all of their home games at 7:11!

    What are the longest postseason games in MLB History?

    The 2018 World Series game 3 matchup between the Dodgers and the Red Sox lasted 7 hours, and 20 minutes and resulted in a 3-2 Dodgers win.

    Final Word

    Another thing to remember is that when the home team bats in the bottom of the 9th it is because they are losing or tied and these games will typically last longer than when the away team bats last and affect the average game length.

    When the away team bats last in the top of the 9th that means the home team has the lead and finishes off the game without needing a chance to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.

    While baseball may seem like a slow game, if you have a good understanding of the strategy that goes into the game you will find the games going by much faster than you realize.

    Baseball is a game of concentration and strategy. Something is going on with each pitch and inning that is unique from the inning before that makes the game great to watch.

     

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