May 29, 2018

Missed Slide

MLB admitted a mistake on Anthony Rizzo‘s slide into the plate on Sunday.

The play occurred with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning on a ball hit by Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez. Pirates shortstop Sean Rodriguez threw home to force out Rizzo, who was at least 15 feet up the line when Elias Diaz caught the ball and dragged his foot across the plate. But Rizzo slid on the infield side and hooked Diaz’s legs, prompting the catcher’s throw to first base to sail into right field and allowing two runs to score.

Rizzo had the lane to slide to the plate and didn’t take it. Given that the Pirates did not score, it probably didn’t change the outcome of the game. It’s an example of no system being perfect, sometimes replay review will get the call wrong. Given the number of close plays I’ve seen corrected over the last few years, the correct calls far outweigh the wrong ones.

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