7 close games dodgers And the Padres. It's a 3-3 draw, so it could be anyone's game. Los Angeles has one out and the bases loaded, and Max Muncy, who has a batting average of .232, will be at bat. The Dodgers tell the umpires that they are using the “golden bat.” Currently, Shohei Ohtani is out due to an injury and is stepping up to bat right away, giving the team the best chance to win.
This is one of the most ridiculous concepts imaginable, but it could soon become a reality. MLB owners are discussing several rule change ideas to spice up the game. That includes the idea of a “golden at bat,” where teams can choose to send their best batter to the plate for a given at-bat, regardless of lineup or at-bat. Pinch hitter rules. Jason Stark of The Athletic says nothing has been decided at this point.and the devil is in the details, which means we have no idea how the “golden bat” rule will be expressed. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is at least interested in the idea.
“There's a lot of (idea for rule changes) being talked about out there,” Manfred said. “One of them, which was talked about a little bit in the owners meetings, was the idea of a golden bat.”
This is clearly a strange change without much explanation as to why it needs to be changed. Obviously, there's a certain appeal to having more at-bats for a star player, but golden at-bats do nothing to improve the quality of the game itself. Stark has one idea for how this rule would work, and it's a pretty far-fetched one.
“Alternatively, there is a variation that I would vote for, where only teams that are worse (or tied) after 9th place can use Golden ABs. I am a fan of less is more, so I would like to use two Golden ABs every game ( one per team) may be too much.”
Other potential variations include allowing teams to use the golden at-bat whenever they want, once per game, but perhaps only after the seventh inning. Either way, it will bring about a major change in the nature of baseball.
It is also reasonable to consider whether this would lead to a significant competitive imbalance. Having more at-bats available to star hitters will naturally give teams with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani on the roster an advantage over teams with less-than-top tier but even lineups.
Nevertheless, there is one place where golden at-bats make sense. That's extra innings. Is anyone there? Really Do you enjoy overtime? What if we sped up the process by allowing teams one golden at-bat per inning starting in the 11th inning? Each team is forced to play one inning with their current lineup, similar to overtime in hockey. keep Bringing in your best players over and over again to end the game would act as a kind of penalty shootout.
This would limit the competitive impact of golden at-bats while also putting a wrinkle in ending games sooner. Outside of that, it's hard to see how this rule makes any sense.
