Is the three batter minimum waived if there is an extensive rain delay because quite often a pitcher does not come back out. What about if the game is actually suspended and picked up at a later date?
I poked around but couldn’t find an answer to your question. Common sense would dictate that rule not apply after a rain delay, but wouldn’t that exception need to be codified? That scenario isn’t mentioned on this site: Official Baseball Rules: Home
Here’s another little tidbit I hadn’t considered, from mlb.com:
If a pitcher faces one batter to end an inning, he may be removed, but if he is brought back for a second inning, he must still face two more batters for a total of three.
It’s a silly new rule, but whatever. With all of the other weirdness this season, it barely stands out.
Well, the 3 batter rule is meant to be permanent. I think it devalues specialist pitchers too much. I know the purists will want to shoot me, but I’m starting to think that going to all 7-inning games is the way to save the sport.
The umpire is allowed to waive the 3-batter minimum if the pitcher sustains an illness or injury that “incapacitates him from further play as a pitcher”. I’d imagine they’d allow this as such an instance. But I don’t see anything specific in the rules.