New York Mets: Khalil Lee injures Rafael Marchan on borderline dirty play

In years past, baserunners were taught to take players out during a double play, sliding into fielders so long as they were near the base. That has changed in recent years due to the Chase Utley Rule, implemented after the Dodgers’ second baseman broke New York Mets infielder Ruben Tejada’s fibula.

On Sunday, we had that situation once again. Mets minor league outfielder Khalil Lee slid into Lehigh Valley IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan, knocking him from the game after taking him out at the ankle.

New York Mets outfielder Khalil Lee with dirty play…or was it?

The play was tailormade for disaster. The Syracuse Mets had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and no one out in a 1-1 game. The IronPigs had the infield in hoping to cut off the run at the plate when Nick Dini hit a chopper to third. The throw was made home for the force, with Marchan heading in front of the plate in an attempt to get Dini at first, taking him right into Lee’s path.

Lee, meanwhile, was charging home as hard as he could in the hopes of beating the throw or sliding in if the throw was offline. Marchan’s attempt to turn the double play took him directly into where Lee was running, forcing him to slide as he attempted to avoid a collision. Instead, that resulted in his taking out Marchan at the ankle, forcing the IronPigs’ catcher from the game and leading to cries that it was a dirty play.

It is notable that Lee was not ejected for that slide, nor was Dini called out at first due to interference. The benches cleared, as was to be expected, but that was it. The only ejection was IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras. Clearly, the umpires did not think anything malicious was intended.

This was a matter of not having any great options. Lee did not have time to stop short or avoid Marchan. At the same time, Marchan had to know that he was crossing in front of Lee in an attempt to get that second out. It was an unfortunate situation, but it was not a dirty play.

It is easy to call Khalil Lee’s slide into Rafael Marchan a dirty play. Instead, the New York Mets minor league outfielder had nowhere to go.