Prior to the 2020 season, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed on a range of minor rule changes. Most of those got postponed by the pandemic, and they’ve been implemented at different times over the last couple years.
One of those rule changes was limitations on when a position player would be allowed to pitch in a game. Beginning in 2022, a team had to be ahead or behind by at least six runs in order to bring in a position player before extra innings. As you might recall, the Dodgers and Dave Roberts got burned by this rule when they attempted to bring in Zach McKinstry to pitch with a five-run deficit.