Decoding MLB Game Times: Are AL Teams Slower Than NL?

Edition #255

and

Jun 28, 2025

We all know that MLB has been trying to speed up the game. When people complain about baseball, it’s usually because it’s too slow. So over the past couple of years, the league’s made changes, like the pitch clock, and, to be fair, they’ve worked. Average game times are down, and most fans are happy.

Still, one question keeps coming up: Are some teams, or leagues, still playing slower than others?

I mean, just think about it, in 2017 (oh my, that was 8 years ago), the top 5 teams by game time were all American League, so it’s pretty valid to ask this question. The data, though, might surprise you.

This post took a lot of time and data collecting to make possible, so I would really really appreciate it if you could share with your friends!

So, for the past few weeks, I’ve been digging into data on team-by-team game times. Thank you to Baseball-Reference for being a huge help with this. Some team stats came directly from their site.

What The Game Time Data Shows:

Right off the bat, the top 10 longest game-time teams are a mix of some of MLB’s biggest names and most competitive 2025 teams. These teams are averaging 2 hours and 42 minutes or more per game.

Interestingly, the top 10 includes more AL teams than NL, and most are doing quite well this season. However, when you look at the bottom 5 (shortest average game times), you still see more AL than NL, though not by much. So, if we’re asking whether AL games are consistently longer than NL games, the answer is not really. The data is too spread out to say that with confidence.

Big Offenses, Longer Games

If we focus on the teams with the longest average game times, there’s one pretty clear thing: offense-heavy teams take longer to play.

Top 10 in home runs: Dodgers (#1), Yankees (#2), Diamondbacks (#4), Mets (#7), Mariners (#9)
Top 10 in batter strikeouts: Yankees, Mariners
Top 10 in total bases: All top 4 teams.
Top 10 in hit-by-pitch: Mets, Mariners, Diamondbacks
Top 10 in total runs: Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Yankees; Mets are #11
Top 10 in plate appearances: Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Yankees, and Mets

More dingers, more bases, more runs? This all adds up. But even with all that, it’s not just the offense that drags things out.

Pitching Adds to the Clock, Too

But it’s not just the bats. Pitching also plays a major role.

Strikeouts (pitching): Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets are all top 10
Saves: Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Mets are top 10, often meaning tense, time-consuming ninth innings
Walks Issued: Dodgers and Mets are top 10; Diamondbacks are #11
Pitches Thrown: Six of the top 10 teams in game time are also top 10 in total pitches thrown

So, both dominant strikeout pitchers and high walk rates can stretch out innings and game time.

Close Games Take Longer

This is when we really start to see why these teams have increased game times.

Yankees: 27 one-run games, #1 in the AL and among the top in MLB
Mariners: 24 one-run games, tied for 3rd in the AL
Mets, Diamondbacks, Dodgers: All with 20+ one-run games

One-run games are more intense and strategic: bullpen matchups, mound visits, and longer at-bats all slow the pace. No one wants to strike out, so they do whatever they can to stay alive, especially since the umpires aren’t exactly perfect… All the day’s hard work on the field comes down to this, and every game is a stepping stone towards the playoffs. It’s important.

What About Extra Innings?

Surprisingly, at least from what I found, extra innings don’t have much of an impact.

Take the Boston Red Sox, they’ve played 14 extra-inning games but aren’t in the top 5 for game time. That’s because of the automatic runner rule. Games can end quickly in the 10th with just one timely hit or three quick outs. They’ve only played 4 games that went past the 10th inning, and only have one game that went past the 11th inning.

Give a gift subscription

Big Blowouts Still Take Time

Blowouts contribute too. The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Yankees are all top 10 in 10-run games. The Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets are also top 10 in 15-run games.

Even when one team dominates, high-scoring innings involve more batters, more pitches, more changes, and more time.

So... Are Teams Gaming the Rules?

It doesn’t look like it. There’s no clear benefit to doing so.

As for foul balls, the rate is rising, and while I don’t have data to back that up, I believe that it’s due to faster pitches. Either way, though, it’s not drastically inflating game times. After all, it’s not like cricket where fans have to return the ball after every 6.

So, what we really need to take away from this is that it’s not about one specific stat, or about being in the American League or the National League. It’s honestly about every little aspect of the game. Offense, pitching, strikeouts, walks, game closeness, scoring patterns, and more.

In 2023, Domingo German threw his perfect game in 2 hours and 30 minutes. However, he didn’t just do that. During that game, the Yankees scored 11 runs. I’m talking offensive outburst and a record pitching performance at the same time, and the fact that it only took that much time proves that it really is possible.

But that’s still only one game, and to fix this, I don’t have a very creative solution, if a solution at all. If the MLB tries to increase pitching, the time of the game will increase, the game doesn’t get as exciting, and younger people tune out. If the MLB tries to increase hitting, the time of game will still increase, the game gets exciting, but it turns off the older generation, and could also get a lot of pitchers injured.

Thanks for reading.