In two major league games on Aug. 7, the interpretation of the Buster Posey rule led to two terribly botched calls and two managerial ejections. But before getting into those plays, first let me give you a tiny bit of history on the Posey Rule.
It’s called the Posey Rule because its implementation in February 2014 was the result of a play in a Giants-Marlins game back on May 25, 2011. The game was in extra innings and involved the Marlins’ Scott Cousins, a fringe outfielder, and Posey , the Giants’ future Hall of Fame catcher.
Cousins tagged from third on a shallow fly ball. He was intent on scoring the go-ahead run to put the Marlins in front. Posey was doing what all catchers have been taught — blocking the plate until he received the ball, so if it was bang-bang the baserunner would be thwarted in his attempt to touch home plate. Cousins did exactly what he had been taught all through his baseball life — take out the catcher and score that darned run.
In this particular situation, a perfect storm came together to end up with a major injury to Posey. The throw was coming to home plate from right field, meaning Posey had to square towards right field to catch the ball and apply the tag as the runner came in from third base. The runner could tell that there was a moment in which he could blindside the catcher, who was straddling the plate as he awaited the ball.
Posey’s leg was shattered and he missed the rest of the 2011 season. MLB decided then and there that it would need to address this situation with a rule change. However, it wasn’t that simple. That’s why it would take the league nearly three years to implement Rule 7.13.
The two most important tenets of Rule 7.13 are the following:
— A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher or anyone else covering home plate.
— Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the path of the runner as he attempts to score.
Those are both pretty straightforward and designed to protect players from catastrophic injuries, especially when there is a throw coming from right field when the catcher cannot see the baserunner as he progresses towards the plate. However, there is a problem that the rule does not address, and there’s the rub that had fans and managers of the home teams in Baltimore and Minnesota irate because of the lack of clarity.
— Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 7.13 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.
On Aug. 7, the Pirates’ Greg Allen and Blue Jays’ Whit Merrifield were called out by the home plate umpires at the stadiums in Baltimore and Minnesota, respectively. The rule explicitly states that the umpires will determine if the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking part of the pathway to the plate.
In both of these cases, the final decision was not being made by the umpires but by someone up in New York who makes the call without answering this simple question: What is the catcher supposed to do to catch the ball?
This is a rule that has to be readdressed and thought through. In the case of Allen, he never touched the plate and ran right into Robinson Chirinos without ever attempting to slide into the plate.
This play has taken one of the most exciting plays in the game and turned it into a farce.
Here are my MLB power rankings:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (75-33, No. 2 last week): There is some troubling news in the NL West — former NL MVP Cody Bellinger is looking the part again. He had surgery on a dislocated right shoulder in November 2020 and was awful all of 2021 and the first few months of 2022, but he is gradually swinging the bat like that other Bellinger. That gives the Dodgers Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman. That collectively might be better than Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Josh Bell and Juan Soto.
2. New York Mets (70-39, No. 4): Just in the nick of time, Buck gets back Max and Jacob (do they really need last names?) If they stay healthy, the Mets may get Buck to a World Series for the first time. But if either tire springs a leak, I don’t think deadline pickups Tyler Naquin and Dan Vogelbach are enough. Impressive the way they swatted the Braves back to earth, four games to one.
3. New York Yankees (70-39, No. 1): The Yankees’ fade is not sudden. They are just 12-17 in their last 29 games. In fact, they have not had a winning week since the week of June 27. Sure, ridding himself of Gallo had to be done and Andrew Benintendi is an upgrade. But the other sequence was not good. They needed a better starter than Jordan Montgomery, and they didn’t give up what needed to be given up to get Luis Castillo from the Reds. The 2022 version of Frankie Montas is not a huge upgrade. It’ll be great if Harrison Bader allows Judge to go back to right field, but he’s on IL and not due back until late August. GM Brian Cashman didn’t distinguish himself here.
4. Houston Astros (70-40, No. 3): It looked unimaginable 4-5 weeks ago that the Yankees could be overtaken for best record in the AL. But, right now, the Astros are a half-game behind the Yankees. Check this out: The Astros have 56 games left — 26 against teams under .500 and 26 against teams above .500. The Yankees have 31 more games against teams above .500.
5. San Diego Padres (61-50, No. 7): So how is that Juan Soto deal working out? At the very least, against the Dodgers, it hasn’t changed the narrative. The Padres were swept out of Dodger Stadium this past weekend. The Padres will have nine more chances against the Dodgers in the regular season, six at Petco Park. Hopefully a Fernando Tatis Jr. return will get change something about this team.
6. Philadelphia Phillies (60-48, No. 10): Club president Dave Dombrowski had an under-the-radar trade deadline. He picked a good-not-great starter in Noah Syndergaard. He greatly improved the outfield defense, acquiring the bearded one Brandon Marsh to man center field. He picked up veteran David Robertson to help close out games. Additionally, he released shortstop Didi Gregorius and turned over the position to a much superior defender in youngster Bryson Stott. Good work. They play this weekend against the Mets at Citi Field.
7. Atlanta Braves (64-46, No. 5): Most everybody I talk baseball with assumed that long streak the Braves have been on would allow them to roll over the Mets. But the two teams have played eight times in the last three weeks, with the Braves going just 2-6 against the Mets. Not sure they’ll get what they need out of Jake Odorizzi while they try to put Ian Anderson back together again. They still have seven more games against the Mets, all in Atlanta.
8. St. Louis Cardinals (60-48, No. 14): The Cardinals just swept the Yankees in a three-game series and have now won nine of their last 10. Club president John Mozeliak was almost all in, but he believed the Nationals’ ask on Juan Soto was too high. I think from the Cards’ perspective he made the smart play.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (60-48, No. 8): The head-scratching move to acquire Whit Merrifield makes much more sense after George Springer’s latest IL trip. I hope Jays’ brain trust’s trust of Mitch White was well-founded. He was the starting pitcher they picked up with Ross Stripling on the IL. I guess it’s a former Dodger thing.
10. Seattle Mariners (59-51, No. 9): You got to give club president Jerry Dipoto credit. He went after the Reds’ Luis Castillo and got his man. It will be fascinating to see if Robbie Ray, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and now Castillo can allow the Mariners to get red-hot again.
11. Milwaukee Brewers (58-50, No. 6)
12. Tampa Bay Rays (58-50, No. 11)
13. Minnesota Twins (57-51, No. 12)
14. Cleveland Guardians (56-52, No. 13)
15. Baltimore Orioles (56-52, No. 15)
16. Chicago White Sox (55-53, No. 16)
17. Boston Red Sox (54-56, No. 18)
18. San Francisco Giants (53-55, No. 17)
19. Miami Marlins (49-59, No. 19)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (48-59, No. 20)
21. Texas Rangers (48-60, No. 22)
22. Colorado Rockies (48-63, No. 21)
23. Los Angeles Angels (46-63, No. 24)
24. Cincinnati Reds (44-63, No. 28)
25. Kansas City Royals (44-65, No. 29)
26. Detroit Tigers (43-67, No. 23)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (44-64, No. 27)
28. Chicago Cubs (43-64, No. 25)
29. Oakland Athletics (41-68, No. 26)
30. Washington Nationals (36-74, No. 30)