The Yankees are confused by MLB’s new pickoff rule, a breakdown

that down, how cool it was. And then the

next day they got called for a balk on

something that people didn't really know

was a thing. And I said in that video, I

think this is very slim margins on the

rule, but the rule does exist and that's

what's being called. I wonder if there

was a memo sent out like, "Hey, Mariners

are doing some tricky shit." Maybe the

league sent out a memo. Be on the

lookout. Well, what do you know? The

very next day, we had two more

instances. This breakdown is brought to

you by Fanatic Sportsbook. We're going

to take a look at two more instances,

the history, the change, and an update

at the very end. So, the Marlins are

playing the Brewers. There's a runner on

first base, Yuri Perez, who's got

disgusting stuff, throws it to first,

and the umpire says, "That's a B. Go to

second. You're not playing the bag.

You're playing the tag. Basically, I'm

paraphrasing. You'll see there's some

lip reading coming up. Yuri Perez is

like, "What? What happened?" Not allowed

to do that. Manager, he comes out. He's

trying to ask what's going on. Like,

well, what about the first one? We did

the same thing two throws ago. Well, the

first one caught me off guard. I wasn't

ready for it. And the manager's face was

like, "What?" Because if we if we go

back, I'll show you. This was the first

one.

And it's very very similar to the one

that got called the Balk, which is that

one. And that's only because it caught

him off guard. And that's fine. He's

like, "Okay,

I didn't know where I didn't know where

he was standing, but you know, he's got

to step back to first base. He can't

just be standing there flatfooted and

listening." Now, he's going to do a dog

head turn. He goes, "So, if he catches

the ball that far up and needs somebody

to tag, I have a bach." All right. Well,

so show me. I don't know where he's

supposed to be. I'm not gonna show you.

What are you talking about? You know,

first baseman's like, "What is it?" My

judgment is that he's too far off the

base and cannot make a play except the

play in front of the base. All right.

He's playing for the tag in front of the

base, not at the base. Do you want to

get run?

Do you want to get run? Cuz this

conversation's over. I'm walking. All

right, you're out. So, he must have

wanted to get run. And the manager is

just he's frustrated. He's saying, "So,

how is he supposed to know where to go?

It's not in the rule book." Okay. So,

now you need to change.

Yeah, that's not right. You guys

are supposed to give him something to

go off of. We don't have

anything to go off of. Where's

he supposed to stand? Where am I

supposed to position him? He's just

standing flatfooted there. and he

doesn't move his feet at all. So, I said

this in the last video. The rule is that

the play has to go to the base. The

throw has to go to the base. And it was

created that way so you don't have some

funky stuff where the guy takes a lead

and then the second baseman and the

first baseman come and they bookend him

and the pitcher gets to throw it to one

or the other. He doesn't know which way

to run and you just run into

shenanigans, right? I think that's the

intent of the rule. Now, let me walk you

through the history of pickups. This is

standard. The first baseman's at the

bag. He catches the ball and he tries to

swipe the hands of the runner. That is

what it's looked like for a long time.

And that is uh you know the standard

pickoff play. You throw it to the base.

The first baseman's there. He swipes the

hands. What happened was with high-tech

cameras and with replay, they started

looking at some replay footage and being

like, man, sometimes when we tag them

further up, they get out. Now, in the

past, like look at this. This tag is

going to be on the butt. Now, before

replay existed, the umpires would just

not call this out. You just had to tag

the hands. That's where they were

looking. They can't look at too much.

So, before replay existed, this wouldn't

even have a chance. But now, a lot of

times, this is called safe and then they

go review it. Like that was called safe.

They went and reviewed it and they

realized no, he was out. So, it shifted

to the first baseman tagging them in the

butt because obviously they don't have

to let the ball travel as far. They

don't have to do any footwork. They

don't have to turn the tag that much.

They can just catch it and throw the tag

on the body and hit them before the

hands hit. So, that is an advancement we

had in in recently. So what happened is

teams started realizing, okay, well, if

that's the case, why don't we position

our first baseman closer to the pitcher,

so the ball doesn't have to travel as

far and he'll just make the play on the

runner. The play isn't at the base

anymore. And that's what the league kind

of told the umpires like, hey, keep an

eye out for this. It might be getting

egregious. They're just tagging the

body. they're standing farther and

farther off of first base and the throw

isn't going to the base, which is what

the rule says. So, this is where kind of

the evolution of the play. Now, what's

interesting is the Mets in 2000 were

known for their pickoff moves and for

skirting the rules and the first baseman

standing way up the line blocking the

runner's view and then they would pick

him off with ease. It became like a

whole thing in the World Series against

the Yankees where the Yankees had to try

and trickery uh against them and you can

see trying to get in the runner's way

and then they would break and they would

have the pickoff. But what I noticed

when I watched this was all of these

first basemen are still making a move

back to first so the throw goes to the

bag. So, this was a team that was kind

of known and making headlines for

skirting pickoff rules and doing

something unique because the first

baseman wasn't playing the bag. And it

behooves them to go backwards. Like he

knows that this runner's going the other

way. He could come up at this point

like he kind of stops there, but they

could just stand still and they'd catch

it way closer and they'd have a faster

play at second. But all of these videos

that I found, the first baseman goes

back to the bag. So the play is to the

bag. Even though they were skirting the

rules, they knew it enough. Here's a

side by side of the Mets doing this and

the Marlins, which got called a B. And

you can see he at least moves. So the

throw goes to the base and the Marlins

guy is flatfooted. So it's on the

margins, but I kind of understand what

is happening. I also understand the cat

and mouse between the league and the

sport. The league wants to make rules.

They want more stolen bases. They

probably want some pickoffs, but not a

ton of them. And you know, teams are

trying to find ways to skirt the rules.

And then it's a cat-and- mouse of

refining the rules so you get the

product you want cuz it's entertaining.

Okay. So, here's another bit of research

I did. I wanted to find when this

happened. So, I went and found the last

three years of pickoffs uh at Marlin

Stadium, Lone Depot Park, with their

first baseman. This is the one that got

called. That's how far off he is from

the bag. I'm going to leave him there.

And now we go back to 2024 and I'm

trying to find the evolution of where

first baseman stood and we're going to

see when they started taking them off

the bag and get as far as this one. I

found something interesting. I found

that there was one series in May of 2024

where they had their first baseman try

this. Boom. Right there. He's at the

same spot. The only thing is when I play

these, he catches it and I'll toggle the

guy off. He catches it and he's turning

to left. So he's never and he's still

trying to swipe closer to the bag. He's

bringing the ball at least closer to the

bag. So the Marlins tried that in 2024

for one series and then kind of stopped

and went back to, you know, we're going

to be a foot off the bag, but it's not

crazy. We want uh we're not playing on

the bag traditionally, but they really,

you know, they don't get as far as the

one that was called a Boach. And depends

on the first baseman, lefty first

baseman, righty first baseman. I guess

the comfort of the player, but I didn't

find any other that were as far. You

know, we're getting close here, right?

We're getting close and he doesn't move.

So, if this happened in 2026, maybe

those are called box, too, because

they're they're far off. Even that one,

he steps a little bit back. And other

teams are doing this, too. But this is

your traditional

where you play. And this was some of the

throws in the very game where the ball

was called. He's much closer. And then

he gets to where he got to way farther

off and the umpire called it a bo. So he

was standing farther than like any other

example I found in the last three years

at that park. Uh it's just like does the

league want this? Do they not want this?

Now let's go to the next bark that was

called in the Yankees game. And after

this I've got an update and some

breaking news for you on the situation.

And this one's different because this is

a play the Yankees put on. You can see

Ben Rice is not playing the back. He's

way off the bag. There's two runners on

and they're going to do a play where he

breaks behind the runner and they throw

it to him. And now they call that a b

because the umpire is going to say balk

go to second and he's going to say he's

too far off. That's what he tells Boon

says What are you talking

about? That's crazy. Yarby just shrugs

it off and Boon's like, "Uh, it's

terrible. Come on. This is a set

play where they're they're trying to

throw it to the bag. It's just an errant

throw. doesn't go to the bag. Rice is

like, "What?" In between innings, Boon

goes and asks them and he he lets them

know. He says, "That's weak." And the

umpire says, "You know what? You're gone

cuz that's weak." Yeah. And if you want

to go talk to him, don't talk to me. And

Boon's like, "Okay, well, he's the one

that made the call, so I'll go talk to

him." And he's going to go out there and

he's going to be calm and measured and

be like, "We're trying to make a play."

Like the throw is errant, not the play.

Boon's gone. So is the gum. He's going

to let her know that's

Will.

It's And now the gum

is going to get tossed. Bam. Going to

make a gum tree, get watered, planted,

all the rage. So this one is different

because Ben Rice, the first baseman, is

moving towards first and then the throw

is what takes him away. But the intent

is to get to the back. Here's how it

looks when you do it right. Andy Pettit

and Tina Martinez used to do this a lot

and a lot of guys do it. It's a popular

move. You break behind him and then you

put the tag on. Now that throw is going

to the back because it's not an errant

throw, which is what Boone was upset

about. and his press conference he talks

all about it.

>> Yeah. I talked to the league today

actually a couple hours ago. Um and they

feel like it it was a bach. So So

therefore it is. I mean even if we don't

think it is, the reality is you got to

get it to the base when it's unoccupied.

It definitely didn't get to the base. My

contention was intent and vicinity

should have mattered. We were trying to

throw it to first base. It was thrown a

little behind and Benny had to adjust.

So, I understand the call and I

certainly accept that.

>> So, here's what he's saying. Here's a

play with Matthew Boyd where the throw

is not online, but it gets there enough.

So, he's saying it's kind of just an

error on the pitcher. Like the intent

was to throw it there and the umpire

saying, "Well, it doesn't matter. You

got to get the ball to the bag." Here's

another angle of Boyd doing it last year

on the Cubs. He led the league in

pickoffs to first base last year. Did it

a lot. Here's another one. Runner

breaks. First baseman breaks behind him.

Easy pickoff. And here's an extra

pickoff we found of Pettit that's just

fun. Don Maddingley jukes the runner

like he's going to field his position.

Nope. Kind of what Naylor did but the

opposite. Anyway, I reached out to Major

League Baseball because I wanted to ask

them like was there a memo sent out like

is this something new? Is it to because

of the new positioning and all that? And

they said that basically, yeah, they

told umpires to be a little more alert

because guys are playing off the base

now and the rule says you have to throw

it to the base. But they have since

reconvened. They've looked at all of the

examples and they are having a meeting

with the umpires kind of as I am

recording this saying, "Hey, these are

moves being made. The intent is to get

the guy. Let's not call them anymore."

So there you go. this just in

these calls. They said our fault. We

didn't give the umps like exactly what

we want don't want and we're letting

them all know that we don't want these

called moving forward. So boonie

expecting four pickoffs tonight against

the Red Sox. Let's make all the moves we

can and enjoy the baseball. So there you

have it. A breakdown, some lip reading,

some past footage, a little history of

pickoffs, and breaking news scoop at the

end. What else do you want?

Tell us and we'll do it. We take a lot

of requests. Appreciate you. Thanks for

watching and thank you to our sponsors.

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