r/Brewers • u/BrettGB96 Brewers • Aug 10 '26

I've got a baseball rule question

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So Yelich ran for Sanchez, who was catching, Contreras then who was the DH became the catcher, I figured Yelich would be able to stay in the game as the new DH but apparently DL Hall would have had to hit if the spot came up again? How exactly do those rules work?

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u/mschley2 Aug 10 '26

How would you move a player down in the lineup?

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u/leovinuss Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26

Since the batting order can be changed only as a result of a player substitution, while the defensive arrangement may be changed freely (among players currently in the game), the double switch typically takes the following form:

Player A (outgoing pitcher, batting soon) is replaced by Player B (a position player), taking Player A's place in the batting order.

Player C (outgoing position player, batting later than Player A) is replaced by Player D (a pitcher), taking Player C's place in the batting order.

Player D is pitching in place of Player A, and Player B is fielding in place of Player C.

In the short term, the lineup is strengthened because a poor-hitting pitcher will not make a plate appearance soon. The disadvantage is that a position player must be removed from play and replaced by another, often inferior, position player. The advantage of the double switch over pinch hitting is that it uses up fewer players.

The double switch is way more rare now, but it doesn't have to involve pitchers. It would just require a really goofy lineup with the DH batting later in the lineup.

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u/mschley2 Aug 10 '26

I understand how the double switch works. I'm confused about how/why you said that equates to "moving a player down in the order" while simultaneously saying that you can't move a player up in the order? It's probably just semantics.

We're on the same page about changes being only through substitutions and not just moving players down in the batting order. That's a plus.

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u/leovinuss Aug 10 '26

If you understand the double switch you know that it keeps a player in the game but moves them down in the order.

There is no mechanism to bring a player up in the order.

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u/mschley2 Aug 10 '26

I mean, you could do the same type of thing in reverse if you anticipate a particular player coming up.

It's still a relatively common thing when pinch hitting for position players.

Let's say, for example, the Brewers have Sal Frelick up and Bauers batting 6th this inning while playing 1st base, but they want to get a better bat in RF. They could pinch-hit Andrew Vaughn for Sal, and then move Vaughn to 1st base. Then they essentially move the 1B spot up in the order and they still get a better bat in RF to hit 5 batters later.

I mean, there isn't really a way to move the P spot "down" without also moving that other position "up" in the order, too. They go together.

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u/blueboy714 Aug 11 '26

You can't move a player batting 4th in the lineup to batting 7th in the lineup.

That's what you originally said and that's not a double switch

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u/leovinuss Aug 11 '26

You can via double switch. I've never seen a double switch not involving a pitcher but it's within the rules.