On the first day of the KBO League exhibition game, when the pitch clock was officially introduced, only one violation was made by Noh Kyung-eun (41, SSG Landers) in five games of 10 teams. This is a marked change from last year when the pitch clock was introduced as a pilot.먹튀검증

Noh Kyung-eun took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning of the opening game of the 2025 KBO exhibition game against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 8th and violated the pitch clock with two outs and runners on the first and second bases.

Noh Kyung-eun, who faced Yang Yang-geun, did not throw the first pitch, but exceeded the limit of 25 seconds, and one ball was automatically counted by the referee. It was the only case of pitch clock violation in the five KBO games where the opening game of the exhibition game was held.

Pitch clock is a system in which a pitcher throws a ball or a batter prepares to bat within a limited time. The system was introduced in 2023 in the U.S. Major League, and the Korean KBO League was officially introduced this year after a trial run last year. As the system will be applied as a Major League rule at the World Baseball Classic in March next year, the Korean team must adapt itself unconditionally.

In the Major League, the limit is 15 seconds when there is no runner and 18 seconds when there is a runner. In addition, departures from the pitching board are limited to two innings. However, the KBO League allows pitchers to throw balls within 20 seconds when there is no runner, and within 25 seconds when there is a runner, without restriction on departures from the pitching board. The catcher should be at the position when 9 seconds is marked, and the batter should put both feet at the batter's box when 8 seconds is marked, to prepare for hitting. If a batter violates this, the defense team will be given a ball and the offense side will be given a strike. The batter can time out a maximum of two times.

Although it was a trial run in last year's exhibition game, the average number of violations per game reached 11.97. Of course, the rules at the time were a little more strict at 18 seconds when there was no runner and 23 seconds when there was a runner, but it was more than expected that the pitcher only played once in five games. It is also evidence that the players and the club have tried to adapt to the new rules since the last camp.

The flagship team was KT Wiz. Last year, when the team was piloting the pitch clock, KT had the least number of violations with 665 out of 144 games (4.62 per game on average) in the regular season. According to a KT source, the team took a step further from this year's Australia-Japan spring camp to set the 15 seconds mark, the Major League standard. As a result, KT held the opening game against the LG Twins at its home stadium, Suwon KT Wiz Park, and just four pitchers – Ko Young-pyo, So Hyung-joon, Kim Dong-hyun and Won Sang-hyun – finished the nine innings in two hours and 36 minutes.

After the game, catcher Jang Sung-woo (35) who led the team said, "Neither I nor our manager hates slow tempo the most. When pitchers throw balls, the manager's face turns red. Our players know that so well that there is no player who prepares late or throws balls. For this reason, I don't think I can feel that I am in a hurry to play the pitch clock yet."

It is somewhat surprising that pitchers have never violated a single case, even though batters do. The efforts of the KBO referees have been added to this issue. Jang said, "The referees came to Japan and explained everything about the pitch clock to us. Since the purpose of the pitch clock is not to catch a player's fault, they tell us, 'Seong-woo, we have seconds left. Sit down quickly, get ready. That's why it's not that difficult."

An electronic display clock related to pitch clock installed at Suwon KT Wiz Park, where the opening game of KT Wiz-LG Twins' 2025 KBO exhibition game was held.
Both players and umpires understand exactly why pitch clock is applied. Peach clock is a system introduced to reduce game time and speed up baseball, which takes more than three hours on average.

KBO also announced the official introduction of the pitch clock for the 2025 season in December last year, clearly stating, "The detailed regulations are not the purpose of sanctions, but the unnecessary reduction of time to present more exciting games to fans." "As the expansion of pitch clock is expected at international competitions, we have adjusted it to the extent that the impact on the performance and confusion caused by rapid changes is reduced to the extent possible for the purpose of adapting to it," he said, also accepting the advice from the field and trying to move forward together.

It was also accompanied by efforts to apply a consistent pitch clock to all teams and players. KBO delivered information to 10 clubs that specified the application time of the pitch clock for each category before the departure of the spring camp and introduced various cases such as equipment failures, attempts to evade regulations, and the Major League Baseball and the Taiwan Professional Baseball (CPBL). In addition, the judging committee and the recording committee conducted joint training in Masan and Jinhae Stadium for four nights and five days from February 6 to 10 to master the pitch clock.

It remains to be seen how the pitch clock system, which is joined by league members such as players, clubs and referees, will bring about results for the KBO League in 2025.