Rule 7.13 No Longer Applicable to Force Plays at Home

MLB tweaked its home plate collision Rule 7.13 to account for force plays at the plate in a move announced Tuesday. The previous iteration of Rule 7.13 stated that a catcher may not block a runner's access to home plate while not in possession of the baseball unless he is in the process of receiving a throw that necessitates his position.

Under this ruleset, Replay Review overturned HP Umpire Mike DiMuro's out call on June 18 when, with the bases loaded, Pirates catcher Russell Martin stood atop home plate to field a throw and record a force out as a baserunner from third base attempted to score. Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle was ejected while arguing the Replay Review decision that awarded a run to Cincinnati due to the enforcement of Rule 7.13.

In response to this play, Major League Baseball instructed its umpires to not enforce the experimental Rule 7.13 on force plays at home plate, which will continue to be reviewable pursuant to Replay Review regulations, although issues of interference or obstruction on such plays will not be subject to video instant replay review.

MLB's adjustment to Rule 7.13 does not apply to plays other than the obstructive force play at home plate and, accordingly, only affects the adjudication of these force plays going forward, with respect to Rule 7.13.