// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the World Baseball Classic rules say to the ball? You're out of bounds.

In addition to the standard rules of baseball, the World Baseball Classic employs the following additional rules:

Rules of play

Eligibility

A player is eligible to participate on a WBC team if any one of the following criteria is met:

• The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport; in this case, the player may be made eligible by World Baseball Classic Inc. upon petition by the player or team.
• The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player has one parent who is or, if deceased, was a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.

Pitching

A pitcher cannot pitch more than:

• 85 pitches per game in the Qualifying Round (all tournaments since 2013, when this round was introduced)
• 65 pitches per game in the First Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 70)
• 80 pitches per game in the Second Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 85)
• 95 pitches per game in the Championship Round (all tournaments except 2009, in which the limit was 100)

A pitcher can finish a batter's plate appearance even if the pitch limit is reached, but must come out after completing the plate appearance.

In addition, these "rest" requirements are in place after a pitcher is used in a game:

• If a pitcher throws 50 or more pitches, at least four days must pass until he pitches again
• If a pitcher throws 30 or more pitches, at least one day must pass until he pitches again
• If a pitcher pitches on consecutive days, at least one day must pass until he pitches again

A pitcher can finish a batter's plate appearance once each threshold is reached and not have to sit out the required amount of days if he is removed after this plate appearance.

Mercy rules

To prevent one-sided contests, games are ended early if one team is ahead by a certain amount. These mercy rules do not apply during the semi-finals or final.

• A game will end if either team is leading by at least 15 runs after the completion of an inning, beginning with the fifth inning.
• A game will end if either team is leading by at least 10 runs after the completion of an inning, beginning with the seventh inning.

Designated hitter

The designated hitter rule applies for all games.

Extra innings

From 2009 through 2017, starting with the 11th inning, teams automatically start with runners on first and second base. The baserunners are the players in the two batting order positions previous to the leadoff batter for the inning (or substitutes called in to pinch-run for those players). Organizers put this rule in place starting with the 2009 tournament, although originally, it did not come into effect until the 13th inning. The intention behind the rule is to help ensure extra-inning games end in as timely a manner as possible, reducing the chance of seeing marathon extra-inning games that place undue strain on players, particularly pitchers. As no extra-inning games in either the 2009 or 2013 WBCs reached the point where the rule came into play, it took until the 2017 WBC for it to affect a game's outcome. There were three such games in 2017, and all three were decided in the 11th inning.

In 2023, the rule was changed to bring the WBC in line with MLB extra-innings rules.

Video replay review

Beginning in the 2023 WBC, video review is available for all situations as it would be during a MLB regular season game.

Pitch clock

Beginning with the 2026 edition, the WBC will use a pitch clock for all games, following MLB rules. A pitcher will have 15 seconds to begin his pitching motion with no baserunners or 18 seconds if there is at least one baserunner, with an automatic ball called if the pitch clock reaches zero before a pitch is thrown.

Run differential

Unlike regular season play, where the number of runs by which a team wins a game is not relevant, the number of runs by which a WBC team wins may be relevant if a tie later develops in the standings. In such cases, teams are ranked by their Team Quality Balance, which rewards them for scoring by as many runs as possible, and for winning with as few of their batters as possible making outs when batting in the bottom of the inning. This caused problems during the 2013 WBC, where one game led to a bench-clearing brawl between Canada and Mexico: Canadian hitter Chris Robinson had bunted for a base hit after Canada had already taken a large lead, causing Mexican pitcher Arnold León to throw three consecutive pitches at the next hitter, Rene Tosoni.

These tiebreakers were changed starting in the 2017 WBC to be "fewest runs allowed per inning of defense in head-to-head games", which places an emphasis on scoring as many runs as possible, while also allowing the fewest runs possible.

See also

• Baseball rules