It’s a pandemic. And Major League Baseball will roll out a deluge of preventative measure to attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus as it attempts to get the 2020 season safely off the ground.
No high fives. No Gatorade coolers. No sunflower seeds. No spitting. And on and on and on.
Included in that ever-growing list is a new rule for extra innings. In an effort to limit the amount of time players, coaches and staff have to be in proximity to one another, extra innings will begin with a runner on second base. It’s additionally helpful in a season in which pitching deployment could be entirely different, with starting pitchers going fewer innings and relief pitchers used more often.