I’m with you on this. I don’t think 20 seconds with runners on base close and late will be too short a time to move on to the next pitch. I’m actually looking forward to getting used to that quite nicely.
I don’t know whether batters will have a clear view of the clock while in the box and looking toward the pitcher, but if so, one thing that would help him is the certainty that the pitcher must deliver the ball by the deadline when he notices that there are only three, two, whatever, seconds left. That would make it a lot easier for the batter to time the delivery of the pitch, especially coming out of the set. The only real tool the pitcher would have as far as timing anymore would be to deliver the pitch in a hurry, early in the pitch clock count which, if he doesn’t do it exactly right, might end up being an illegal pitch. So to keep things better balanced, I would think only the pitcher will have a clear view of the clock so he can deliver the ball before it runs out, and all the batter will know is that he got into the box before the eight-seconds-left point.