St. Louis Cardinals: Bloggers sound off over new MLB Rules

Runner starting at second base in extra innings

Daniel Shoptaw: They can trash that extra runner as quickly as possible. I hate to see a game and on a dying quail because the runner the pitcher wasn’t responsible for was on base. It’ll be interesting to see how short it has made games this year, but given that some of these extra innings were probably in doubleheaders that might not have gone extra innings in a normal year, I’m not sure we’ll be able to tell. Still, I’d rather trade the chance of some 19 inning games over a losing a game cheaply.

Ron Nuttall: I enjoyed it in the World Baseball Classic a couple of years ago, but I haven’t enjoyed it at all this year. In a day and age when bunting is a lost art, and probably less than five percent of the league does it effectively, so starting this runner on second base, pushing him over and getting him home on fly ball, I don’t see teams lining up to do that. I’m not a big of starting the runner on second base, although I understand why they tried this. I just hope they don’t bring back next year.

Jason Hill: This one is pretty stupid. It tries to add some drama to extra innings, but that drama is entirely contrived. That said, I readily don’t mind any strategy that would end extra-inning affairs as quickly as possible. There is nothing worse than investing in an extra-inning game, then having to give up on it with no result to get some sleep. The runner on second rule should help with that. It’s not enough of a reason to keep the rule though. Pass.

Matt Benson: I definitely feel this has sped up some games and reduced extra innings, so it’s good from that perspective. I would perhaps prefer, going forward, if it was implemented from the 11th inning so we can try to finalize a game using classic rules, then the runner on second if still tied.

Russ Robinson: When I first saw this rule, it sounded like something you would see in Tee Ball. This rule doesn’t belong in a major league game or any type of baseball beyond Tee Ball. I know it was set up to save time and keep extra-inning games turning into an all-night affair. And maybe it does. But c’mon, there’s surely a better way. File this idea away and forget where you put it.

Conclusion

As you can see, the universal DH brings up different opinions, really five different opinions. It doesn’t seem to be as simple as a yes or no.

The three-batter minimum left most of us feeling it didn’t have as big of an impact as it was designed to do. Jason seems to be the only one who would like to see the rule stay, and I may be the only one who cares that the rule is dropped moving forward.

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The expanded postseason doesn’t seem to grab any of us, but Ron and Jason would like to see it play out before they make a final judgment. Daniel and I already expressed reservations about the whole idea.

Seven-inning doubleheaders have gotten a thumbs up all across the board. The only debate is whether to continue it into next year and how many should be scheduled.

And finally, Daniel, Ron, Jason, and I don’t like the runner starting at second base in extra innings, and would like to see the rule scrapped. However, Matt sees value in it and is willing to see it kept, with an adjustment.

These new rules created different opinions and takes among the roundtable. As for what the St. Louis Cardinals had to deal with in 2021 and beyond, we will find out this offseason. Thank you again to all that participated in this roundtable.