ESPN MLB analyst proposes radical solution to speed up baseball games

If she were the Major League Baseball commissioner for the day, ESPN sportscaster Jessica Mendoza said that she'd make a tiny alteration.

The former Olympic gold medallist said that while people would cringe at her suggestion, she'd make the sport a seven-innings affair. She exclaimed how she couldn't stand a nine-innings game, while on air with Mackenzie Salamon of USA Today Sports.

"If I were commissioner for the day, I would make the sport 7 innings, make it exciting. And that way from pitch one, it doesn't matter which innings you're in, it matters, and that's so important," Jessica told Mackenzie Salamon off USA Today Sports.

In her defense, she cited bullpen manipulation and pace of play as the reasons for her radical proposal.

"Specially with bullpen manipulation right now, we keep talking about the pace of play and how games are too long. Okay, well, I get that a pitch clock is coming. I get that we are working on having less pitchers come in. But at the end of the day, can we just cut out two of those innings," Mendoza continued.

Jessica Mendoza concluded by echoing the thoughts of numerous baseball fans, voicing out how everyone sometimes just wants to get to the end of the game.

"Imagine if that 5th innings was more like the 7th, we had 2 more innings to play with. We all want to get to the end of the game," she concluded.

While it's an interesting proposal, nobody would disagree that it won't save time and speed up the baseball game.

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Who is Jessica Mendoza, and what is her affiliation with Major League Baseball?

Jessica Mendoza was a former professional softball player who won two Olympic medals for the USA. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

She's currently a color commentator and analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA.

"Jessica Mendoza became the first female analyst on a @Dodgers broadcast last week, as part of a rotation of road analysts after Orel Hershiser cut back his travel this season. Her performance has been a happy revelation, @helenenothelen writes." - L.A. Times Sport, Twitter

Jessica Mendoza was also an analyst on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball from 2016 to 2019. Although she was dropped from the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast post the 2019 season, she remains an ESPN baseball analyst.