Under five in the ninth inning against the Mets, Dodgers coach Dave Roberts didn’t want to waste any more of his relievers, so he sent out gardener Zach McKinstry to pitch. However, this is not allowed.
As a rule, a team must go down at least six runs to use a position player as a pitcher. Mets coach Buck Showalter caught him before McKinstry threw a throw, and after checking with the replay review center, the referees forced Roberts to carry a normal pitcher.
The referees allowed the new pitcher Evan Phillips to warm up in the bullpen, which is not uncommon for a coach to wear a cold pitcher for non-injury reasons.
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The Dodgers used a total of seven pitches against New York after Walker Buehler only lasted 2.2 innings, and it looks like Roberts was willing to give in so as not to waste more relievers.
MLB instituted this rule before the 2020 season as a way to prevent teams from abandoning games that were still somewhat within reach. More teams have been willing to use position players as pitchers, while bullpens have been deeper and have been used more often to combat shorter outings.
However, it seems to be the first time a manager has tried to evade the rule. The Mets won the game 9-4 after the Dodgers won the first two games of the series, and the two will finish the series on Sunday afternoon.
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