The pitcher beats zero by starting the delivery; the batter must be ready at eight.

This page applies to Major League Baseball in 2026

The baseline is the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, 2026 Official Baseball Rules, supplemented by MLB's Competition Committee Pitch Timer Regulations. MLB adopted the timer for the 2023 championship season and reduced the runners-on limit from 20 to 18 seconds effective in 2024. MLB's current pitch-timer page carries the 15-, 18- and 30-second configuration into 2026.

This is not a universal baseball rule. NCAA, NFHS, Little League, WBSC, independent professional leagues and local competitions may use different timers, readiness points, disengagement limits or no timer at all. Their appointed rulebook and competition regulations control.

Three clock settings, two player deadlines

• 30 seconds: the between-batters timer.
• 15 seconds: the between-pitches timer when no base is occupied.
• 18 seconds: the between-pitches timer when at least one runner is on base.
• 8 seconds remaining: the batter must already be in the box and alert to the pitcher.
• Before zero: the pitcher must begin the motion to deliver.

The ball does not have to reach the plate before zero. The pitcher's act that beats the deadline is the start of the delivery, not release of the ball or the catcher's receipt.

Why the printed rulebook still says 12 seconds

OBR 5.07(c) still prints an older bases-empty delay rule: 12 seconds after the pitcher receives the ball, measured until release, once the batter is in the box and alert. That wording does not describe the visible MLB pitch timer now used in games.

For MLB in 2026, the later Competition Committee regulation is the operative pace rule: 15 seconds with the bases empty, 18 with runners, and compliance when the pitcher begins the delivery before expiry. Rule 5.07(c) remains relevant background in the OBR, but its 12-second text must not be substituted for the MLB competition regulation.

Starting the delivery on time is enough

The umpire asks whether the pitcher's natural motion to deliver began before the timer expired. A legal motion begun in time may continue after the display reaches zero. If the pitcher has not begun in time, the umpire calls a pitch-timer violation and adds an automatic ball; no pitch is thrown.

The timer does not excuse an otherwise illegal delivery. Once a pitcher starts the natural delivery, OBR 5.07(a) and 6.02 still govern interruptions, failure to come to a required stop and balks. Nor may a pitcher rush a delivery to catch a batter who is not reasonably set: OBR 6.02(a)(5) treats a quick pitch as an illegal pitch—an automatic ball with the bases empty and a balk with runners on.

In the box is not enough: the hitter must be alert

At the eight-second mark, the batter must have both feet in the batter's box and attention directed to the pitcher, able to assume a hitting position promptly. Looking down, continuing a routine or only beginning to turn toward the pitcher can therefore violate the rule even when both feet are physically inside the lines.

The batter's deadline is not extended merely because another participant appears unready. Only an umpire-authorized stop or reset changes the timing sequence. A batter violation adds an automatic strike and no pitch is delivered.

One granted timeout per plate appearance

MLB gives the batter one timeout per plate appearance. A request does not itself stop the clock; the plate umpire must grant time. MLB's 2023 implementation clarification says that stepping out after entering the box and becoming alert uses that timeout. A pinch-hitter who replaces the batter during the same plate appearance does not receive a fresh one.

A hitter may step out with more than eight seconds left if the pitcher is not engaged with the rubber, but the timer continues. The hitter must return and be alert by eight. After the one timeout has been used, leaving the box does not create a second automatic pause.

The Field Timing Coordinator runs the display; the umpire controls play

MLB's Field Timing Coordinator starts and resets the timer under the pace procedures. Since the 2024 modification, after a dead ball such as an uncaught foul the timer may restart when the pitcher has the ball and play is ready; the pitcher need not first walk back onto the mound. Between batters, the separate 30-second timer governs the transition to the next plate appearance.

The umpire may waive off, stop or reset the display when play is not genuinely ready. MLB's published examples include a brushback, an aggressive swing that dislodges equipment, a legitimate injury, a genuine PitchCom malfunction, or a catcher who ended the prior half-inning batting or running and reasonably needs time to put on equipment. These are administered exceptions, not player-controlled resets.

The penalty can complete a walk or strikeout

The automatic ball or strike is added to the existing count. A pitcher violation on a three-ball count is ball four, so the batter is awarded first and forced runners advance under the ordinary base-on-balls rules. A batter violation with two strikes is strike three and retires the batter. Because no pitch was delivered on a timer violation, there is no live batted ball, steal on the pitch or uncaught-third-strike play to resolve.

There is no late-game exception. The same count consequence can end a plate appearance, an inning or the game.

How to resolve a pitch-timer call

1. Name the competition. This path is MLB 2026.
2. Identify the phase. Is this between batters, between pitches, or a stopped-clock interval?
3. Read the bases. Use 15 seconds empty or 18 seconds with any runner aboard.
4. Check the batter at eight. If not in the box and alert, add an automatic strike and end the sequence.
5. Check the pitcher before zero. If no delivery has begun, add an automatic ball.
6. If the pitcher disengaged, count it. Decide whether the action reset the timer, exceeded the limit, or followed a runner advance that reset the count.
7. Apply the existing count and base state. Determine whether the added ball, strike or balk ends the plate appearance or advances runners.

Two resets do not make two pickoff moves automatically legal

With a runner on base, a pickoff attempt or a step backward off the pitcher's plate is a disengagement and resets the 18-second timer. MLB allows two disengagements without a pitch-timer penalty during one plate appearance. The disengagement count resets when a runner advances to another base during that plate appearance.

“Without a pitch-timer penalty” is important. Each move must still satisfy the ordinary OBR balk requirements. An illegal feint, failure to step toward a base, or prohibited interruption can be a balk even when it is only the pitcher's first disengagement.

A third attempt is high-risk, not forbidden in advance

After two disengagements, the pitcher may attempt another pickoff. If that subsequent disengagement records an out on a runner, there is no disengagement-limit balk. If it does not retire a runner, MLB's regulation applies a balk; the ball is dead and each runner advances one base under OBR 6.02(a).

A bare third step-off cannot succeed by retiring a runner, so it produces the balk. A successful tag must still result in a legally recorded out; merely making a close or accurate throw is not enough.

Granted stoppages are separate from disengagements

MLB lists mound visits, injury timeouts and offensive-team timeouts as events that do not increment the pitcher's disengagement count. They can pause play, but a player cannot manufacture one simply by asking.

For current MLB games, OBR 5.10(m)(1) allows four mound visits per team per nine innings, plus one in each extra inning. MLB's pitch-timer glossary still contains an outdated reference to “five” visits; the 2024 Competition Committee change and the 2026 OBR's four-visit text control.

The delivery starts at one second

Situation: with the bases empty, the pitcher begins a legal delivery while the display shows one second. The ball leaves the hand after the display reaches zero.

MLB 2026 ruling: no timer violation. The decisive act is beginning the delivery before expiry; the ball need not be released or reach the plate before zero.

The hitter looks down at eight on a two-strike count

Situation: the batter has both feet in the box but is still looking down and adjusting a glove when the timer reaches eight. The count is 1–2.

MLB 2026 ruling: automatic strike three; the batter is out. Physical presence in the box did not satisfy the separate alertness requirement, and no pitch was thrown.

The third pickoff throw is late

Situation: a runner is on first, the pitcher has already disengaged twice, and a third pickoff throw reaches first after the runner returns safely.

MLB 2026 ruling: balk. The ball becomes dead and the runner is awarded second under OBR 6.02(a); the pitch count is unchanged. If the legal third attempt had recorded the out, the out would stand and there would be no disengagement-limit balk.

A stolen base restores two disengagements

Situation: the pitcher has used one disengagement with a runner on first. The runner then steals second on a later pitch.

MLB 2026 ruling: the runner's advance resets the disengagement count. For the remainder of that plate appearance, the pitcher again has two disengagements without the limit penalty, although every move must still be legal under the balk rules.

Beating the timer with a quick pitch

Situation: with a runner on first and ten seconds left, the pitcher deliberately delivers while the batter is not reasonably set.

MLB 2026 ruling: the remaining clock time does not legalize the delivery. If the umpire judges it a quick pitch, OBR 6.02(a)(5) makes it a balk with a runner on base. The pitch timer sets a latest start; it is not permission to ignore the quick-pitch rule.

ABS challenges and timer calls answer different questions

MLB introduced the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System for 2026. An ABS challenge reviews an umpire's ball-or-strike call on a delivered pitch. A pitch-timer violation instead adds a ball or strike because a deadline was missed and no pitch was delivered, so it is not a review of pitch location.

During an ABS challenge the timer is not running. MLB's 2026 procedure also says that when a replay review may follow an ABS challenge, umpires check whether a manager wants review before restarting the pitch clock.

WBC and Minor League rules must be named separately

2026 World Baseball Classic: WBC, Inc. appointed the 2025 OBR and expressly adopted the MLB pitch-timer rules for tournament games. It did not use MLB's 2026 ABS Challenge System, showing why “MLB rules” does not mean every accompanying competition procedure automatically carries over.

2026 Minor League experiments: MLB announced level-specific tests, including one permitted disengagement in Double-A and tighter batter-timeout rules at some classifications. MLB stated that these were Minor League experiments, not changes to the Major League rule described on this page.

Five shortcuts that give the wrong answer

• “The ball must cross the plate before zero”: the pitcher need only begin the legal delivery before expiry.
• “Being inside the box is enough”: the batter must also be alert to the pitcher at eight seconds.
• “A timeout request stops the clock”: the umpire must grant it, and the batter normally gets one per plate appearance.
• “Two pickoff moves are automatically legal”: two is only the timer-reset allowance; ordinary balk law still applies.
• “The 2026 OBR's 12-second line is the stadium clock”: MLB's later 15/18-second competition regulation governs the visible pitch timer.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• Office of the Commissioner of Baseball — Official Baseball Rules, 2026 Edition, Foreword and Rules 5.07(a), 5.07(c), 5.10(m), 5.12 and 6.02(a)
• Major League Baseball — Pitch Timer regulation, current 15/18/30-second limits, batter deadline, disengagements and special-circumstance authority
• Major League Baseball — Competition Committee Pitch Timer Regulations adopted 9 September 2022, effective for 2023 Spring Training, Championship Season and Postseason
• Major League Baseball — 2024 rules modifications, effective for the 2024 season: 18-second runners-on timer, four mound visits and dead-ball timer restart
• Major League Baseball — 22 March 2023 implementation clarifications: brushbacks, aggressive swings, batter timeouts, catcher timing and PitchCom issues
• Major League Baseball — Baseball Operations pitch-timer demonstration, 15 February 2023: start-of-delivery test, meaning of “alert,” umpire control and special circumstances
• Major League Baseball — ABS Challenge System rules approved 23 September 2025, effective for the 2026 MLB season
• Major League Baseball — 2026 ABS Challenge System operating procedure, including pitch-clock restart after a possible replay review
• World Baseball Classic, Inc. — 2026 tournament rules and modifications: 2025 OBR baseline, MLB pitch timer adopted, ABS not used
• Major League Baseball — 2026 Minor League experimental rules, level-specific disengagement and batter-timeout variations

Checked on 26 August 2026 against the Office of the Commissioner's 2026 OBR, MLB's current pitch-timer regulation and its 2023–24 implementation notices. The later Competition Committee regulation controls MLB's visible timer where OBR 5.07(c) retains older 12-second wording. MLB's live glossary also retains an obsolete five-mound-visit reference; the 2026 OBR and 2024 modification set the current MLB limit at four. Other competitions may supplement or replace this baseline.