MLB needs to change arcane rule that screwed Padres, Ha-Seong Kim last weekend

By now, most San Diego Padres fans are well aware of the play that cost the Padres a chance at a win on Sunday. After mounting a furious comeback once again, Ha-Seong Kim hit a long drive that appeared to deflect off the fielder's glove and go over the fence for a game-tying home run. Unfortunately, the umpires ruled after video review that it was instead a ground-rule double.

It took a little while for fans to gain an understanding of the rules and what exactly happened, but it does appear as though the umps got it right even though it obectively stunk for the Padres. The rule is the rule and that is fine. However, this is a rule that really needs to be revisited by MLB for these sorts of niche cases.

MLB needs to make exceptions to "ball in play" rule for plays like Ha-Seong Kim's almost-homer

As former MLB umpire Mike Winters eloquently explained, what cost the Padres a game-tying bomb was the MLB rule when a ball is in play: if a ball deflects off the wall and comes back towards the field of play, that ball is treated as though it hit the ground. The reason for this rule is to prevent fielders from catching balls off the wall for outs which would be objectively bad, especially in parks with big outfield walls like Fenway's Green Monster, for example.

However, it feels like MLB could easily make an exception for plays like this, as rare as they are. They can keep the spirit of the rule intact for the vast majority of batted balls that hit the wall. However, allowing for the corner case example of a ball hitting a fielder (or their glove) before it hits the ground and going over the fence would be a fun wrinkle to add (and a reasonable one because fielders shouldn't be doing that anyway).

Ultimately, all is well that ends well. The Padres didn't linger on the loss whatsoever and are currently among baseball's hottest teams in the second half. At the end of the day, the umpires called the play correctly under the rules of the game. It just feels like this is the sort of play where a special exception could be written in to add some excitement in the rare event it happens again.

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