PITTSBURGH _ Mike Rabelo has plenty of experience with baseball's new speed-up rule for extra innings, as the Pirates assistant hitting coach actually managed High-A Lakeland (2018) and Class AA Erie (2019) in Detroit's system each of the past two seasons.
But the rule that places a runner on second base to start the 10th inning has allowed Rabelo to draw really only two definitive conclusions: There are a ton of variables at play here, and it's pretty much impossible to come up with any hard-and-fast rules on what a manager should do.
"I've seen it every which way," Rabelo said. "Every night you end up walking away scratching your head. Just when you think you have a plan, it doesn't work the next time you do it. It's wild. Believe me, you're going to see all sorts of stuff."
While Rabelo didn't divulge the intricacies of Pittsburgh's extra-innings strategy, he did present a few scenarios that the Pirates and their fans will likely see this season. Here's a look.
