Would MLB Benefit From a Mercy Rule?

Baseball Reference defines a mercy rule as, “(a rule) that terminates a game early if one of the two teams has taken a substantial lead, considered to be insurmountable, after a minimum number of innings have been played.” MLB has already designated the ghost runner during extra innings and, starting this season, adopted the pitch clock to help with the game’s pace of play. So, the question should be asked: Should MLB adopt a mercy rule, too?

After all, it could help with the game’s pace of play if Commissioner Rob Manfred’s main point is to expedite the game.

Most definitions of a mercy rule end a game after seven innings if a team is leading by 10 runs or more, something MLB could adopt. Under this scenario, there have been 36 instances of teams leading by at least 10 runs by the end of the seventh inning this season. Instead of trotting out position players to surrender softball home runs eat innings for the rest of the game, the game would simply end.

Recently, the Tampa Bay Rays lost a game to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 20-1. Of the 19 earned runs the Rays surrendered that day, 10 of them came from position players alone in only two innings of work.

So far this season teams, have played roughly 55-59 games. Excluding designated hitter-outfielder Shohei Ohtani, there have been 46 games in which a position player has faced at least one batter, according to Baseball Reference. Most of these games finished with a double-digit deficit that could have been concluded two innings sooner, potentially avoiding inconsequential runs we saw given up by the Rays at the hands of Luke Raley and Christian Bethancourt.

In the month of May alone, there have been 10 games that had a 10-run differential after the seventh inning. Now, this may not seem like a lot, but it’s 10 times fans don’t have to be subjected to subpar offenses and minimizing hopes of seeing a comeback. Through May 31, the largest deficit a team has come back from is only seven runs, so the likelihood of a double-digit comeback so far this season is, well, nonexistent.

Support for a mercy rule has not been officially polled in MLB circles, but after a 17-3 loss at the hands of the Cleveland Indians in 2019, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone seemed to express some support for such a rule.

“I think there would be a lot of benefit to (a mercy rule),” Boone said. “… if you get to this point after seven innings or whatever, there might be some merit to (a mercy rule) worth exploring … because it’s not fun to have to put a position player in that situation.”

Boone also noted that, “Sitting in my chair, you worry about hurting someone.”

The answer to a potential mercy rule is far from a perfect one as there are valid arguments that one is not needed. After all, one blowout loss is only one game of 162 you play in a season and such a rule could eliminate exciting comebacks no matter how improbable.

Speaking of the aforementioned Indians, in 2001, they were facing a 12-0 deficit after the third inning against the Seattle Mariners, the same Mariners who set the American League record for wins in a season at 116 that year. While this game was also only one of 162, the Indians stormed back to win 15-14 in 11 innings in one of the more memorable games this century.

If your answer to not having a mercy rule is keeping the game competitive until the last out, the performance of those involved in blowouts and the overall tradition of not having one, then that is fair. Say what you want about Manfred, but it seems he has an open mind when it comes to the product on-field and a mercy rule just might fit within his vision.