Concerned by the increase in concussions and other injuries caused by collisions at home plate, MLB and the MLBPA agreed today on a new rule for the 2014 season. The rule is for one-year and will be reviewed again after the season.
MLB Passes Rule on Home Plate Collisions
The rule doesn’t ban collisions entirely, but it does take some steps in an attempt to reduce them.
The new rule, 7.13, states “a runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate).” A runner violating the rule will be called out, even if the fielder drops the ball.
There are also two comments attached to the rule, that are intended to help umpires in making these calls. The first says, “the failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runner’s lowering of the shoulder, or the runner’s pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation.” The comment basically says that any player that makes a proper slide at the plate would be ok.
The second comment says, “unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. The runner shall be declared safe if the catcher violates that provision. In addition, it is not a violation if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable.”
The rule is a compromise between the league and players association on the issue. The MLB Competition Committee wanted a must slide/can’t block the plate rule, while the MLBPA felt that there wasn’t enough time to train catchers and runners on the new rules in time for the 2014 season.
The rule is complex and may create issues for umpires this season. It remains to be seen if a rule this open to interpretation will be effective at creating the results that the league is looking for.
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