Former MLB Players Expressing Their Displeasure With Position Players Pitching To MLB
Unnamed former MLB players are reaching out to league offices and union executives in an attempt to implement a clause in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement to reduce the number of position players pitching in blowouts, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Enrique Hernández #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 14, 2025 in Los...
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Enrique Hernández #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. More
Photo byIn 2023, Major League Baseball implemented a new rule governing position players pitching to reduce the frequency of the event. Position players were only allowed to pitch if one of the three following circumstances were met: the game is in extra innings, the team is trailing by at least eight runs at any point, team is winning by at least 10 runs in the ninth inning.
These rules are still intact today, but former MLB players want a new rule to be in place to limit the occurrence even more.
"It's ruining the game and making a farce of statistics," one former All-Star player said, according to Nightengale in his column Sunday, "and you just wait until one of these guys gets hurt. It's time they stopped making a mockery of the game."
Position players pitching is as much of a decision to save pitching for the next day than to roll out six different bullpen arms in one game and have a depleted bullpen for the coming days.
Nevertheless, this will likely be a topic of conversation as the new collective bargaining agreement approaches after next year. Many players and some fans look down upon using position players in a blowout, but when a game is out of reach in the later innings, teams have to begin to prepare for the next day and consider their pitchers' health as well.
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