2023 World Baseball Classic rules and regulations
Rosters
On or earlier than February 7, 2023, every Federation Team shall undergo WBCI a proposed Final Roster of not more than 30 gamers, every of whom should have been on that Federation Team’s Available Player List, plus one supervisor and 7 uniformed coaches. An accepted Final Roster shall embody not less than 14 pitchers and not less than two catchers.
Designated Pitcher Pool
Each Federation Team might establish a chosen pool of 10 pitchers who’re eligible to take part in a number of consecutive rounds. The checklist is submitted to WBCI on the time the Provisional and Final rosters are due. For the Federation Team to make the most of the Designated Pitcher Pool, the Federation Team’s Final Roster shall embody one or two pitchers from the pool. If no pitcher is listed from the pool, on their submitted roster to WBCI, the Federation Team is prohibited from utilizing the Designated Pitcher Pool for the rest of the Tournament. Once the pool pitcher is known as on a Tournament roster and subsequently eliminated previous to the subsequent spherical, the pitcher is not eligible to take part. After every spherical of the Tournament, any pitcher from an advancing Federation’s Designated Pitcher Pool could also be changed on the Federation’s Final Roster with one other pitcher from that Federation’s Designated Pitcher Pool, supplied that no member of the Designated Pitcher Pool could also be added again to his Federation’s Final Roster as soon as he has been changed by one other member of the Designated Pitcher Pool. Affiliated members of the Designated Pitcher Pool who usually are not included on their federation’s Roster for a given spherical of the Tournament ought to report back to or stay with their Major League Club, as directed by the Club. If the pitcher being changed is an affiliated pitcher, he should return to his Major League Club’s Spring Training camp as soon as he’s not an energetic member of the Federation’s 30-man roster.
Player Eligibility
Each participant on a Federation Team’s accepted Provisional Roster have to be eligible to take part for that Federation Team. A participant shall be so eligible provided that:
• The participant beforehand appeared on a Federation Team’s ultimate roster initially of both a World Baseball Classic Qualifier or Tournament spherical; or
• The participant is a citizen of the Federation Team’s nation or territory, as evidenced by a legitimate passport the participant holds as of three months previous to the beginning of the Tournament; or
• The participant is presently a everlasting authorized resident of the Federation Team’s nation or territory, as evidenced by documentation passable to WBCI and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (“WBSC”), or
• The participant was born within the Federation Team’s nation or territory, as evidenced by a delivery certificates or its equal; or
• The participant has not less than one mum or dad who’s, or if deceased was, a citizen of the Federation Team’s nation or territory, as evidenced by a passport or different documentation passable to WBCI and the WBSC; or
• The participant has not less than one mum or dad who was born within the Federation Team’s nation or territory, as evidenced by a delivery certificates or its equal; or
• The participant presents documentary proof passable to WBCI that he could be granted citizenship or a passport in the end below the legal guidelines of the Federation Team’s nation or territory (excluding any requirement of the Federation Team’s nation that the participant would wish to resign his present citizenship), if he have been to use for such citizenship or passport.
Player Restrictions Per MLB Club
WBCI won’t approve a participant’s participation within the Tournament if such participation would trigger an MLB Club to have greater than 15 gamers from its group, or greater than 10 of its gamers who have been on any MLB Club’s Major League Active or Injured List as of August 31, 2022, except the MLB Club informs WBCI in writing that it has no objection to permitting further gamers to take part. Notwithstanding the foregoing, WBCI will retain the discretion to find out whether or not an in any other case eligible participant is ineligible to take part within the Tournament on the premise that such participation would pose an undue burden on his Club (e.g., a Club has its high 5 beginning pitchers electing to take part). If limits of participant participation from an MLB Club are reached, WBCI will select which gamers will take part, guided by the precept that Federation Teams’ rosters which have fewer accessible MLB affiliated gamers shall be given precedence.
Injured Personnel
A Federation Team might exchange a participant, supervisor or coach on its Final Roster if the participant, supervisor or coach is injured and WBCI confirms that the participant, supervisor or coach has a selected harm or ailment that renders the participant, supervisor or coach unable to proceed to take part in all or a part of the Tournament.
A participant so designated as injured shall be ineligible to take part in any additional Tournament video games. A Federation Team might exchange on its Final Roster a participant designated as injured with one other participant who had appeared on that Federation Team’s Available Player List. A pitcher designated as injured could also be changed solely by a pitcher and a participant designated as injured who’s apart from a pitcher could also be changed solely by a participant apart from a pitcher. A catcher who’s designated as injured could also be changed solely by a catcher, if the injured catcher would in any other case trigger the Federation Team to have fewer than two catchers. A Federation Team should present a written request for alternative, in an affordable period of time, to an individual designated by WBCI and obtain the approval of WBCI earlier than such alternative seems in a Tournament recreation.
If a participant apart from a catcher is injured within the First Round of the Tournament, no alternative for such participant shall play till the start of the subsequent spherical of the Tournament. If a participant apart from a catcher is injured within the Quarterfinal Round of the Tournament, no alternative for such participant shall play till the Semi-Finals of the Tournament. If a participant is injured within the Semi-Finals of the Tournament, no alternative for such participant shall be permitted. Notwithstanding something on the contrary on this paragraph, if the injured participant is a catcher who would in any other case trigger the Federation Team to have fewer than two catchers, then the alternative catcher might play starting with the subsequent recreation in all circumstances.
Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency/Paternity Leave
A Federation Team might request {that a} participant be given Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency / Paternity Leave. No participant could also be given Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency / Paternity Leave except such participant is unable to render providers due to the intense or extreme sickness or dying of a member of such participant’s quick household (partner, mum or dad, grandparent, sibling, youngster or grandchild), of such participant’s partner’s quick household or such different member of the family as WBCI determines is consistent with the spirit of this Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency Leave coverage. No participant could also be given Paternity Leave except that participant is the daddy of a kid whose supply or adoption is imminent or has occurred inside the prior 48 hours.
The minimal interval of Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency Leave shall be three consecutive days and the utmost interval of Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency Leave shall be seven consecutive days, throughout which era the participant is just not permitted to be with the Federation Team. The minimal interval of Paternity Leave shall be at some point and the utmost interval of placement shall be three consecutive days, throughout which era the participant is just not permitted to be with the Federation Team.
A participant given Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency / Paternity Leave could also be changed on the Final Roster by one other participant who had appeared on that Federation Team’s accepted Available Player List. A pitcher given Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency / Paternity Leave could also be changed solely by a pitcher and a participant apart from a pitcher could also be changed solely by a participant apart from a pitcher. Such alternative shall be topic to the identical recreation and Final Roster restrictions above to which the participant he’s changing was topic. Upon expiration of a participant’s Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency / Paternity Leave, such participant shall be reinstated to the Final Roster, the participant who changed the participant given depart shall be faraway from the Final Roster and the returning participant shall likewise be topic to the identical recreation and Final Roster restrictions to which the participant who changed him would in any other case have been topic. If alternative of a participant on Bereavement / Family Medical Emergency / Paternity Leave would in any other case trigger a Federation Team’s Final Roster to have fewer than two catchers, then any alternative shall be a catcher.
Playing Rules
All Tournament video games shall be performed in keeping with the provisions of the 2022 Official Baseball Rules, as supplemented by these Rules.
• Three Batter Minimum: For the avoidance of doubt, the “Three Batter Minimum” rule contained in Official Baseball Rule 5.10 shall be enforced throughout World Baseball Classic video games.
• Mound Visits: Official Baseball Rule 5.10(m) in regard to limitations on the variety of mound visits per recreation, is just not adopted for Tournament video games.
• Designated Hitter: Official Baseball Rule 5.11 in regard to the usage of the designated hitter, is adopted for Tournament video games.
• Replay Regulations: Replay Review shall be utilized as set forth in Major League Baseball Replay Regulations, as could also be amended by WBCI. Any such amendments shall be communicated to the Clubs upfront of any related video games.
• Pitch Timer, Base Sizes, Restriction on Shifts: The Official Baseball Rules adopted for 2023 concerning the Pitcher Timer, base sizes and restrictions on defensive positioning is just not adopted for Tournament Games.
Pitcher Use Limitations
The Official Baseball Rules shall be supplemented for Tournament video games performed by a Federation Team, as follows:
A pitcher should:
• Not pitch till a minimal of 4 days have handed since he final pitched, if he threw 50 or extra pitches when he final pitched;
• Not pitch till a minimal of at some point has handed since he final pitched, if he threw 30 or extra pitches when he final pitched;
• Not pitch till a minimal of at some point has handed since any second consecutive day on which the pitcher pitched;
The combination variety of pitches thrown in two successive video games over two days is just not used to find out pitcher relaxation restrictions.
• Throw not more than
o 65 pitches per recreation within the First Round of the Tournament;
o 80 pitches per recreation within the Quarterfinal Round of the Tournament; and
o 95 pitches per recreation within the Championship Round of the Tournament;
o except the pitcher wants extra to finish a batter’s plate look; and
• Throw not more than
o 49 pitches per exhibition recreation for a Federation Team, or the utmost variety of pitches that WBCI units forth for such pitcher for such exhibition recreation, whichever is much less, if the pitcher is below reserve to an MLB Club. WBCI might set forth such a most upon the written request of the pitcher’s MLB Club.
No place participant (i.e., a participant apart from a pitcher) who’s an Affiliated Player shall be permitted to pitch for a Federation Team in (1) an exhibition recreation, below any circumstances, or (2) a Tournament recreation, except the Game Operations Technical Committee has first given such World Baseball Classic Federation Team permission to take action in such Tournament recreation. Other than the foregoing, there shall be no restrictions on the usage of place gamers (the restriction on place gamers showing in a recreation as a pitcher contained in Official Baseball Rule 4.03(c)(4) is just not adopted for Tournament video games).
For functions of the pitcher use limitation guidelines, each Semi-Final video games shall be deemed to have been performed on the day of the most recent Semi-Final recreation.
For functions of pitch depend limitations, pitches thrown for the aim of effectuating an intentional stroll shall not depend towards the general pitch limits. If a pitcher reaches the utmost restrict of pitches in a recreation throughout a batter’s plate look, the pitcher might proceed within the recreation till such plate look or the inning ends, whichever comes first.
Early Termination for Large Leads
The umpire-in-chief shall name a regulation recreation within the First Round of the Tournament and award the victory to the Federation Team that’s forward each time:
• Such Federation Team is forward by 10 or extra runs after any full inning, starting with the completion of the seventh inning; or
• Such Federation Team is forward by 15 or extra runs after any full inning, starting with the completion of the fifth inning.
Extra Innings
For any inning starting with the tenth inning, the Federation Team at bat shall start the inning with a runner on second base. The batter who leads off an inning shall proceed to be the batter who would lead off the inning within the absence of this extra-innings rule. The runner on second base shall be the participant (or an alternative to such participant) within the batting order instantly previous the batter who leads off the inning.
By means of instance, if the #5 hitter within the batting order is because of lead off the tenth inning, the #4 participant within the batting order (or a pinch-runner for such participant) shall start the inning on second base. Any runner or batter faraway from the sport for a substitute shall be ineligible to return to the sport, as is the case in all circumstances below the Official Baseball Rules. For functions of calculating earned runs below the Official Baseball Rule 9.16(b), the runners who start an inning on second base pursuant to this rule every shall be deemed to be runners who’ve reached base due to a fielding error, however no error shall be charged to the opposing Federation Team or to any participant.
Winning Pitcher
Official Baseball Rules 9.17(a)(1) and 9.17(b) shall not apply to Tournament video games. Instead, Official Baseball Rule 9.17(e) shall apply to the dedication of the profitable pitcher of every Tournament recreation.
Video Replay Review
Replay Review shall be utilized as set forth within the Major League Baseball Replay Regulations, besides that, for the Championship Round video games, the supervisor shall be entitled to 2 (2) replay challenges and shall be entitled to at least one (1) replay problem for all different video games.
Team Rankings
For Round One, the collaborating Federation Teams are assigned and ranked in every Pool based mostly on the next standards:
• First, the Federation representing every Pool’s host nation shall be assigned.
• Second, the workforce(s) that participated within the ultimate 4 of the 2017 World Baseball Classic will subsequent be assigned as high seeds for every Pool
• Finally, the remaining groups shall be assigned based mostly on December 31, 2021, WBSC rankings to be able to assured aggressive steadiness. Commercial, geographic and geopolitical concerns can also be utilized to this course of.
As such, the Pool checklist and rankings are as follows:
Pool A – Taipei
• Chinese Taipei
• Netherlands
• Cuba
• Italy
• Panama
Pool B – Tokyo
• Japan
• Korea
• Australia
• China
• Czech Republic
Pool C – Phoenix
• United States of America
• Mexico
• Canada
• Colombia
• Great Britain
Pool D – Miami
• Puerto Rico
• Dominican Republic
• Venezuela
• Israel
• Nicaragua
Home/Visitor Designations
The house and away workforce designations have been decided based mostly on the Pool rankings and every workforce will get the next house and away video games:
• Team #1: will obtain three house video games and one away recreation
• Team #2: will obtain two house video games and two away video games
• Team #3: will obtain two house video games and two away video games
• Team #4: will obtain two house video games and two away video games
• Team #5: will obtain one house recreation and three away video games
In every pool within the First Round, house workforce designations, for functions of the Official Baseball Rules, shall be as follows, with none regard to the sequence of video games performed:
• Team 2 customer, Team 1 house;
• Team 4 customer, Team 3 house;
• Team 5 customer, Team 2 house;
• Team 1 customer, Team 3 house;
• Team 2 customer, Team 4 house;
• Team 4 customer, Team 1 house;
• Team 3 customer, Team 2 house;
• Team 5 customer, Team 4 house;
• Team 3 customer, Team 5 house;
• Team 5 customer, Team 1 house;
In every Quarterfinal recreation, the house workforce designation shall be given to every of the Round One pool winners. Each of the Round One pool runner-up groups shall be designated because the visiting workforce.
In every Championship Round recreation, which incorporates the Semi-Finals and Final recreation, the Federation Teams with the upper profitable share of video games within the Tournament shall be the house workforce. If the Federation Teams competing within the Championship recreation have equivalent profitable percentages within the Tournament, then WBCI shall conduct a coin flip to find out the house workforce.
Pool Play and Tie-Breaking Procedures
First Round: In the First Round, the groups in every pool shall be ranked in keeping with the chances of video games gained within the First Round. The two groups with the very best such percentages in every pool shall advance to the Quarterfinal Round. If on the finish of pool play in Round One of the Tournament, groups inside a pool are tied with an equivalent profitable share, the tie shall be damaged within the following order of precedence:
• The workforce that gained the video games between the groups tied shall be given the upper place. If three or extra groups are tied and a kind of groups gained its video games towards all different groups it’s tied with, then it is going to be positioned within the increased spot. Similarly, if a kind of tied groups misplaced its video games towards all different groups it’s tied with, then it is going to be positioned within the lowest spot.
• The tied groups shall be ranked within the standings in keeping with the bottom quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by the variety of defensive outs recorded within the video games in that spherical between the groups tied.
• The tied groups shall be ranked within the standings in keeping with the bottom quotient of fewest earned runs allowed divided by the variety of defensive outs recorded within the video games in that spherical between the groups tied.
• The tied groups shall be ranked within the standings in keeping with the very best batting common in video games in that spherical between the groups tied.
• Standings shall be decided by the drawing of heaps, carried out by WBCI.
Tournament Relegation
WBCI will implement the next workforce relegation plan after the 2023 World Baseball Classic Tournament. The 16 highest-ranked groups of the match will obtain an automated invitation to the next World Baseball Classic Tournament. The final positioned workforce in every First Round Pool after the competitors of the 2023 match shall be relegated to the Qualifier Round.
Disputes
All disputes between and amongst gamers and Federation Teams (apart from anti-doping disputes whose decision is supplied for in different agreements amongst Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the World Baseball Softball Confederation) shall be referred to WBCI for determination. WBCI’s choices shall be accepted by all events as ultimate.
