Baseball league expands replay, makes other rule changes for 2021

▲ Umpires listen to officials at the replay center during a Korea Baseball Organization preseason game between the SSG Landers and the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on March 30, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ Groundskeepers work on the field at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul following a Korea Baseball Organization preseason game between the SSG Landers and the LG Twins on March 30, 2021. (Yonhap)

baseball-changes

Baseball league expands replay, makes other rule changes for 2021

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean baseball league will expand the use of instant replay this year, while also awarding teams an extra challenge.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Wednesday teams can now ask for a review on the following situations to see if: a runner has scored before the third out of an inning was recorded; a runner has missed a bag; a runner passed a preceding teammate; and a runner tagged up before a catch was made.

Up until last year, teams only had two replay challenges, regardless of the results of those challenges. Starting this season, if teams are successful in overturning a call on the field in two consecutive challenges, they'll receive an additional challenge in a nine-inning game.

In other changes, players on the injured list (IL) must spend at least 10 days before being activated. During last season, players often came off the IL within a couple of days, and the KBO said it wanted to ensure sufficient rest and recovery for injured players.

The 2021 regular season will include an Olympic break from July 19 to Aug. 9, and the KBO will utilize doubleheaders to squeeze its 144 games into a tight calendar. Games that are canceled after April 13 will be made up as part of doubleheaders.

The KBO will also allow clubs to add retiring players to the active roster for their final game, even if the move will put them over the limit. This was designed to give clubs a chance to bid a proper goodbye to outgoing players in a retirement game, without being forced to drop anyone from the roster.

Those retiring players will be automatically removed from the roster the day after their retirement ceremony and will not be eligible for the rest of the year, should the ceremony come during the season.

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