PHILLY JOE GIRARDI?

Pitch clock? Who needs a pitch clock? A week into the season, major league games are being played significantly faster than last year, as the limit on mound visits seems to be having the desired effect on speeding up the pace of play.

No doubt Commissioner Rob Manfred is happy about that, since he backed down on his right to implement the use of the pitch clock, giving players the chance to prove they could play faster without it.

So far they have. Through Thursday the average nine-inning game was played in 2:59:52, according to MLB. At the same point last season, games were averaging 3:06:01, and for the entire 2017 season, the average was 3:05:11 — an all-time high in the sport.

But is that fast enough for Manfred? He told the Players Association, which opposed the pitch clock, he wanted games played in an average of 2:55 this season, or he would go ahead with the clock in 2019.

At least the limit of six mound visits seems to be getting results. As Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter said on Michael Kay’s ESPN radio show Friday, the new rule was needed.

Without naming names, though probably referring to the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez, Showalter said some catchers made as many as 13 trips to the mound in games against the Orioles last season.

“This will help move the game along,” he said.

A major-league scout, meanwhile, said Friday he’s noticed that catchers and pitching coaches as well haven’t come to the mound in spots where they would have in the past, especially in the early innings, to settle a pitcher down.

“It’s very noticeable to me,” the scout said. “Teams are being careful to give themselves flexibility with those visits for later in the game.”

MLB people also believe many players, though certainly not all, are making an effort to keep games moving, which means pitchers working a little more quickly and batters not stepping out of the box after every pitch.

All of which sounds like improved pace of play, yet there is another trend in the game that may ultimately negate any such timesaving — the analytics-driven belief that most starting pitchers shouldn’t face a lineup a third time in a game, as numbers show they are often much less effective at that point.

Teams have been moving in this direction for a couple of seasons, but it seems to be more widespread now, and certainly the misadventures of new manager Gabe Kapler in Philadelphia have brought new scrutiny to the idea.

Kapler’s reliance on analytics isn’t the only reason he was booed in Philadelphia during introductions for the team’s home opener on Thursday, but it’s where his problems started, pulling Aaron Nola after 68 pitches in the season opener, even though he was sailing along with a 5-0 lead at the time, then watching as his bullpen blew the game.

Kapler, remember, was hired out of the Dodgers’ front office, and it was only last October that LA manager Dave Roberts pulled Rich Hill in the fourth inning from Game 2 of the World Series, even though he was pitching brilliantly, and it wound up backfiring on him.

Nevertheless, managers everywhere seem to be heading in this direction with all but one or perhaps two elite starters in their rotation.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway explained the thinking earlier this week.

“People are using the numbers more and more,” he said.

“If you look at the numbers, it’s always in your favor to bring in a new pitcher every inning. Really. Unless it’s just your best, best guy — otherwise it always makes sense, numberwise, to bring in a different guy so hitters are facing different pitchers every at-bat.

“There’s an advantage to that and you can see it by the bullpen usage from most teams now. If you’re on the fence about a fourth or fifth starter, and he needs some help getting a lineup a third time, there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of what we now know to be true.”

What that means, though, is that teams can be in the pen by the fifth inning, and they’re going to use several relievers to get through a game. Indeed, Kapler, who started the season with nine relievers, set a record by using 21 pitchers in his first three games.

That also usually means matching up in the late innings, using pitchers for only one batter in some cases, and slowing games to a crawl.

One person told me he watched a game last week with Tony La Russa, and the Hall of Fame manager told him privately that all the matching up was making games draft to the point where he’d be in favor of a rule forcing relievers to pitch to multiple hitters.

How’s that for irony? The manager famous for turning the job of closer into a ninth inning-only job, in the way he used Dennis Eckersley with the A’s, and often slowed games himself with his use of multiple relievers, says he can’t bear to watch anymore.

Apparently limiting mound visits can only do so much.

Will Joe Girardi be managing again sooner rather than later?

It’s hard to believe Phillies’ GM Matt Klentak would fire Kapler any time soon, since it would make him look foolish for making the outside-the-box hire in the first place.

But if Kapler’s tenure as a first-time manager continues to be a disaster, at least some baseball people believe Phillies’ ownership would step in and make a change before the season spirals out of control.

“They have a guy who’s not going to sit back and do nothing,” was the way one rival executive put it.

He was speaking of John Middleton, who has become the point man for Phillies’ ownership, and someone who has said publicly the