“Where's the infield fly rule?”; “Oh my, Vlad is an absolute Genius” - MLB fans react as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s intentional pop-up drop resurfaces

Per the MLB rulebook, the infield fly rule comes into effect when a shallow infield pop up occurs. In order to protect against the defending team allowing the ball to drop to record multiple force outs, the rule dictates that the hitter is out in these circumstances regardless of whether or not the ball is caught.

On Monday, a fan shared a video from last season in which the rules seems to have been clearly ignored. In a game against the Cincinnati Reds, Blue Jays first baseman allowed a Will Benson popup to drop, which he in turn used to turn a double play.

"Vladimir Guerrero Jr. INTENTIONALLY missed this pop up." - nick

Although the clip is from last season, the tactics used by the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman drew considerable interest from fans when it was posted. Several took to X to praise Guerrero's shrewd actions.

Many of the comments took Guerrero's side, and blamed Cincinnati Reds hitter Will Benson for not running harder to first base. Despite the fact that many also pointed out that the infield fly rule should have come into effect, MLB rules state that the umpire has discretion on whether or not to invoke that regulation.

"Good acting job can tell he did this purposely fr" - praised a fan

"Idk why this doesn’t happen far more often" - claimed another

"Yep, the batter showed kids how not to play." - was another comment

Upon further digging, it can be surmised that this situation does not exactly fit into MLB's criteria to invoke the infield fly rule. In order for the rule to come into effect, there must be runners on first and second, or have the bases loaded with less than two outs.

"People saying this should be an infield fly rule just don’t know baseball." - claimed a fan

"Let it hit ur glove and land it front of you. Great IQ play" - represented more praise

"1000000000000000000000 IQ PLAY OMG" - came a final voice of support

Some MLB rules remain as elusive as ever

A strange play to be sure, at least this old clip invokes a spirited investigation into the realities of the codified MLB regulations.

Although the play by Guerrero may not be the most sportsmanlike thing that he could have done, it earned his team the out, which is the objective for every single team each time they take to the field.