Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the future status of some of the newly added rule changes around the game while speaking with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday afternoon prior to the 2021 All-Star Game.
Among other topics, Manfred said he expects that seven inning doubleheaders and the extra-inning rule with a runner starting on second base will not be a part of the game’s future moving forward.
“I see the extra-innings rule and seven inning doubleheader as rules that were adopted based on medical advice to deal with COVID. I think they are much less likely to become part of our permanent landscape than some of the other rules we’ve talked about over time.” Manfred said.
He added, “the point in time we adopted seven-inning doubleheaders for this year we didn’t know the country was going to look like it does now. We were scared it was going to look very, very different.”
The change can not happen midseason, but both rules could and may likely be eliminated as soon as next season. The Mets played an incredible ten seven-inning doubleheaders during the first-half of the season, which was double the amount of any other team in baseball.
On another note, Manfred also said he feels that bringing the designated hitter to the National League is a non-radical change.
