Pitch Clock Rules for 2026, Plus Shift Limits and the Extra-Innings Runner

For the 2026 MLB season, the pitch clock gives a pitcher 15 seconds to begin his delivery with the bases empty and 18 seconds with a runner on base, with 30 seconds allowed between batters. A pitcher who runs out of time is charged an automatic ball. A batter who is not in the box and alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark is charged an automatic strike. Those are the figures in MLB's pitch timer rules, which arrived in 2023 together with limits on defensive shifts and larger bases, the same year the extra-innings runner became permanent.

Each change was aimed at a specific problem, and several have been adjusted since. That is why explainers written in 2023 now get some details wrong.

The 2026 rules at a glance

Where the rules are written down

Most of these are in the 2026 Official Baseball Rules: the shift limits in Rule 5.02(c), the mound-visit allowance in Rule 5.10(m), the bases in Rule 2.03 and the extra-innings runner in Rule 7.01(b)(2).

The timer is the exception. The rulebook text does not set it out — its own delivery limit, Rule 5.07(c), still describes a 12-second limit that applies only with the bases empty — so the timer figures in this article come from MLB's published descriptions. Those are worth reading with care. MLB's pitch timer entry still refers to "all five" of a team's allotted mound visits, but MLB's pace of play entry and Rule 5.10(m)(1) of the 2026 rulebook both put the limit at four.

The pitch timer

MLB's glossary gives the reason in one phrase: the timer was introduced "in an effort to create a quicker pace of play". It was adopted after several years of testing in the minor leagues and announced in September 2022, following a run of smaller pace measures since 2014, including timers for the breaks between innings and limits on mound visits.

What each side must do

• The pitcher must begin his motion to deliver the pitch before the timer expires. If he does not, he is charged an automatic ball.
• The batter must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark. If he is not, he is charged an automatic strike.
• With runners on base, the timer resets when the pitcher attempts a pickoff or steps off the rubber.
• Umpires can allow extra time in special circumstances. MLB's example is a catcher who made the last out of the previous half-inning on the bases and needs time to put his gear back on.

A worked example

Take a hypothetical plate appearance with a runner on first and a 1–1 count, so the pitcher has 18 seconds. He steps off with a few seconds left: that resets the timer and uses one disengagement. Then he throws over to first: another reset, and his second disengagement. If the batter is still adjusting his gloves outside the box when the timer reaches 8 seconds on the following pitch, the umpire calls an automatic strike and the count becomes 1–2 without a pitch being thrown.

Pickoffs, step-offs and mound visits

Because a pickoff attempt or a step-off resets the timer, an unlimited supply of them would let a pitcher stop the clock whenever he liked. The 2023 rules therefore limit pitchers to two disengagements per plate appearance, counting pickoff attempts and step-offs together. The limit resets if a runner advances during the plate appearance. If a third pickoff attempt is made and does not get the runner, the runner advances one base. Mound visits, injury timeouts and offensive team timeouts do not count as disengagements.

The practical effect is that the running game now has a budget. A runner who knows the pitcher has used both disengagements can take a longer lead, because the next throw over has to retire him or it costs the defence a base.

Mound visits follow their own allowance. Rule 5.10(m)(1) of the 2026 rulebook limits visits without a pitching change to four per team per nine innings, with one more for each extra inning that does not carry over. MLB's pace of play entry adds that a team with no visits left at the end of the eighth inning receives an extra one for the ninth.

Shift limits

The official comment on Rule 5.02(c) states the purpose: "to prevent the defense from having more than two infielders on either side of second base" so it can anticipate where the batter will hit the ball. The rule has three parts:

1. When the pitcher is on the rubber and begins his delivery, at least four players besides the pitcher and catcher must have both feet completely in front of the outer edge of the infield dirt.
2. When the pitch is released, those four must still be there, with at least two of them entirely on each side of second base.
3. From the first pitch of a half-inning, the infielders on each side may not switch sides for the rest of that inning, except at a defensive substitution; bringing in a new pitcher from outside the game does not count.

MLB's shift limits entry adds that the rule does not stop a team putting an outfielder in the infield or on the shallow grass, but it does rule out four-outfielder alignments.

The penalty changed for the 2025 season. Previously a violation gave the batting team an automatic ball if it did not want the result of the play. Under the 2026 text, if the infielder who broke the rule is the first player to touch the ball, the batter is awarded first base and every runner moves up one base; in any other case the pitch is called a ball. Either way, the offence keeps the result of the play if the batter reaches and every runner advances at least one base, and its manager may decline the penalty after a play such as a sacrifice fly.