Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Says MLB Should Consider Adding Mercy Rule

The New York Yankees have been on both ends of blowouts this season, and manager Aaron Boone thinks adding a mercy rule in MLB "might be ... worth exploring."

"I think there would be a benefit to that," Boone said Friday, according to the New York Post's George A. King III. "You would probably eliminate a lot of the unwritten rules, people running or swinging. It would be like, if you get to this point after seven innings or whatever, there might be something to that and worth exploring."

Boone's team lost 19-5 to the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night—a game in which he used designated hitter Mike Ford at pitcher for the last two innings.

"It is not fun to obviously put a position player in that situation," Boone added.

The Yankees also lost 19-3 at the Boston Red Sox on July 25. On the flip side, they beat the Baltimore Orioles by 12 runs on two occasions this season (April 7 and Aug. 7). In the loss to Boston, Boone utilized catcher Austin Romine at pitcher for the bottom of the eighth inning.

While a mercy rule could protect players from injury in games like that, there are other instances when position players have pitched this season.

On Aug. 2, for example, the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies were tied 3-3 in the 14th inning when Philadelphia called on center fielder Roman Quinn to pitch and starting pitcher Vince Velasquez—who had entered as a pinch runner in the 13th—to play left field.

All this seems like a debate for another day, as the league in March revealed a list of rule changes through 2020 that excluded a mercy rule.

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