The former Yankees ace says MLB’s faster pace, shorter games, and innovative rules are reviving the sport and bringing fans back to the ballpark.
Baseball feels different right now — faster, younger, and more alive than it’s been in years. Former Yankees ace and Hall of Famer CC Sabathia summed it up perfectly: The energy around the game has shifted, and for once, moving in the right direction. From rule changes to rising stars, Major League Baseball is finally embracing the kind of evolution that puts fans first.
“I think the pitch clock is what’s done it,” Sabathia said on the latest episode of Network with Rich Kleiman. “Getting games back under three hours, you know, two hours and 30 minutes, it’s made a huge difference.” He’s not wrong. What felt unthinkable just a few years ago — a league that would actually embrace change — is now central to MLB’s resurgence.
From shorter game times to increased in-game action, the pitch clock has done more than just speed things up. It’s brought families back to the ballpark. Fans no longer need to choose between staying until the end or getting home before midnight. The experience is sharper, tighter, and more TV-friendly.
It’s not just about logistics. The product on the field is undeniably better. “These guys are bigger, faster, stronger than we’ve ever been,” Sabathia added, shouting out young stars like Elly De La Cruz and Paul Skenes, alongside household names like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch.”
The irony? Baseball, the sport most often accused of resisting change, is now leaning into innovation. Sabathia pointed out how leagues like the NFL and NBA regularly tweak their rules to enhance the product — and MLB is finally catching up. With the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system on deck, the evolution isn’t slowing down.
“The biggest resurgence of why we have this energy around the game is because of the changes that we made,” Sabathia said. He’s right. Baseball’s future isn’t about abandoning tradition — it’s about embracing progress, without losing its soul.
Be sure to catch the full conversation between Sabathia and Kleiman at Boardroom’s YouTube channel here, as well as on Yahoo Sports‘ podcast pages on Apple and Spotify.
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