Baseball: Where 90% of the Game is Mental and 10% is Just Waiting for Something to Happen

You’ve heard the old adage, "Baseball is ninety percent mental and only ten percent physical." It’s a classic. But here’s the thing: nobody agrees with it. Some argue 80/20, others prefer 50/50. It's like arguing over what percentage of your pizza is cheese versus crust—everyone’s got an opinion. For this blog, though, let’s roll with the 90/10. Think of it as a way to look at the game through a different lens. Maybe it’ll make you rethink how you watch every pitch, every swing, and every nail-biting decision.

Time Moves Slower on the Ballfield

An MLB game is roughly 3 hours long. Some say it’s too long, but that’s not our focus today. We’re going to slice up that 180 minutes into something far more interesting.

How much of that time is actually spent playing baseball? You might want to sit down for this. The ball is in play—that is, actively being thrown by a pitcher, hit by a batter, or fielded by a player—only for about 15-20 minutes during the entire game. Yes, you read that right. For all the action-packed moments, the baseball is on the move for a mere fraction of the time.

Let’s break it down: 180 minutes of game time and only 15-20 minutes of actual in-play action. That means a whopping 10% of the game is when the ball is actively moving around. So, what are the players doing with the other 90% of the time? And more importantly, what are they thinking about?

Let’s Crunch the Numbers (Because Why Not?)

Now, let’s dive deeper with some math that will make your head spin, just a little:

How long does it take for a pitcher to pitch a baseball?

Let’s assume a starting pitcher takes about 2 seconds from windup to release (rounded up, but we’re just trying to keep things simple). If that pitcher throws 100 pitches in a game, and assuming they make it to the 6th or 7th inning, they’ll have pitched for around 2 hours. But, in terms of actual work, they’ve spent just 200 seconds (100 pitches × 2 seconds per pitch). That’s barely over 3 minutes of actual game time in a 2-hour span. A little shocking, right?

Now, let’s talk about a reliever. A reliever might throw 15 pitches in an inning, so that’s 30 seconds of action (15 pitches × 2 seconds per pitch) for all the buildup of the past week or so. 30 seconds. That’s it.

Now let’s talk hitters.

A hitter who gets 4 at-bats in a game might take about 2 swings per at-bat. At 1 second per swing (which is a conservative estimate), that’s 8 seconds of work throughout the entire game. In a 3-hour game, the average hitter spends a grand total of 8 seconds making the most of his at-bats. 8 seconds.

What Are You Thinking About When You’re Not Swinging?

So, what’s the takeaway here? When the action slows down and the game turns into waiting for something to happen, what’s going through your head? Because when you’re not actively participating, what you think about matters more than you think.

Baseball is, after all, a game of decisions, even when you’re not physically doing much. The other 90% of the time is mental. And this is where players, coaches, and managers sometimes falter. Most players train physically—weights, sprints, drills, and endless reps. But what about the mental training? If baseball is 90% mental, then why do most players spend 90% of their time working on the physical? That’s a good question. It’s like trying to run a race with perfect gear, but no plan on how to pace yourself.

You can have the best workout program in the world, perfect throwing routines, and the best coaches, but it still boils down to one thing: You have to choose to do it. And when you do, the attitude with which you approach that work will make all the difference. It’s not enough to simply go through the motions—you’ve got to bring your best mental game to the table.

Discipline Over Motivation

Here’s where it gets real: You can’t change the way you act without first changing the way you feel. And you can’t change how you feel without changing how you think. It’s a cycle. Your mindset drives your attitude, and that attitude drives your actions. That’s why discipline is the key to consistency—not motivation. Motivation is fleeting, like a fastball at the top of the zone. But discipline? Discipline will keep you locked in, inning after inning.

So next time you’re sitting in the dugout, or in the stands, or watching the game on TV, remember: the game might be 90% mental, but the true action is happening inside the players’ heads. You’ll have just a few moments to act on those thoughts, and how you prepare yourself mentally will make all the difference.

Change the way you think. Change the way you feel. Change the way you act.

And remember, 90% of baseball might just be about what happens between the ears. It’s time to start thinking differently.