Offishial news, 2/9/21: MLB keeps crazy rule; 2021 Marlins NRIs

Let’s get gimmicky

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players’ Association reached an agreement Monday night on health and safety protocols that will help them navigate through a second straight pandemic season. The agreement also includes the renewal of two gameplay rules from the 2020 season: seven-inning doubleheaders and starting each extra inning with a runner on second base.

Nearly one-quarter of all Marlins games last year were part of doubleheaders. The innings reduction greatly benefited the Fish, minimizing the influence of their vulnerable bullpen en route to posting a 10-4 record in such games (21-25 record in all other games). But with the majority of Americans expected to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations by summer’s end, virus-related postponements will hopefully be far less frequent in 2021.

The extra-inning rule remains absurd. If the industry is trying to deter super long games—those that end too late for fans to watch, leave athletes more susceptible to injury and get decided by position players pitching—then there are better solutions than this.

The two sides failed to include the universal designated hitter rule in their agreement.

Walk-off links

Baseball Prospectus

• Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA sees no path for the Marlins to win the NL East this season. Their 50th percentile projection for Miami is 68-94.
• MLB Network Radio special guest host Miguel Rojas believes the young starting rotation has special potential, anyway.
• In case you missed it, our 2021 Marlins Season Preview series has launched.
• The Marlins have announced 25 total non-roster invitees to major league spring training. I find Max Meyer, JJ Bleday, Kameron Misner, Joe Dunand and Alexander Guillen to be the most intriguing.
• Major League Baseball is deadening the ball after several years of extremely high home run rates.
• Tell The Fish Army your most unrealistic expectations for the club.
• Fish On The Farm releases their full preseason Top 100 Marlins prospects list.
• Marlins Minor League Baseball affiliates in Jacksonville, Pensacola, Beloit and Jupiter will be turning in their signed professional development licenses on Wednesday (if they haven’t done so already).
• The All-Time Marlins Countdown has made it through 115 chapters. Fifty more to go!
• Season three of the Marlins Tee Ball Initiative is now underway.
• Turn on Twitter notifications for the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish who teases that he’ll have a new Marlins-related scoop on Tuesday.