GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
Does contact with a fielder make every MLB double-play slide interference?
No. Rule 6.01(j) requires both that the runner did not make a bona fide slide and that the runner initiated or attempted contact with the fielder for the purpose of breaking up a double play. A bona fide slide must meet all four stated criteria. Permissible incidental contact and contact caused by a fielder entering the runner's legal path do not automatically create interference. If the violation is found, both the runner and batter-runner are out, except that if the runner was already out, the runner the defense was attempting to retire is called out.
For Fans and players trying to distinguish a permissible slide from interference on an attempted double play. · Updated
The rule has a two-part trigger
The double-play slide rule is not triggered by every collision or by declining to slide alone. It requires a runner who did not engage in a bona fide slide and who initiated or attempted contact with the fielder for the purpose of breaking up the double play. Both parts matter.
A bona fide slide has four criteria
The runner must begin the slide by making contact with the ground before reaching the base; be able and try to reach the base with a hand or foot; be able and try to remain on the base after the slide, except at home; and slide within reach of the base without changing the pathway to initiate contact with the fielder.
A permissible slide does not become interference just because incidental contact follows. The rule also protects a runner where contact occurs because the fielder is positioned in or moves into the runner's legal path.
Some maneuvers and the penalty are explicit
A roll block, or intentionally initiating or attempting to initiate contact by elevating and kicking a leg above the fielder's knee or throwing an arm or upper body, is not a bona fide slide. If the umpire finds the Rule 6.01(j) violation, the runner and batter-runner are out. If the runner was already put out, the out applies instead to the runner the defense was trying to retire on the play.
Keep this rule separate from home-plate collision rules and from official scoring of a double play. It explains the interference call, not how a scorer credits the play.
Which rulebook this explanation uses
This guide follows the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball's Official Baseball Rules, 2026 Edition. The 2026 change summary lists neighboring home-plate Rule 6.01(i) changes, not a blanket change to Rule 6.01(j); it is not a prior-edition redline. No day-level effective date or adoption outside MLB and affiliated professional-development leagues is asserted.
Contact alone versus contact to break up the play
In a fictional play at second, Keira begins a slide before the bag, reaches for it with a hand, tries to remain on it, and stays within reach without turning toward the shortstop. Their shoulders brush as a consequence of the slide; contact alone does not establish the Rule 6.01(j) trigger. In a separate branch, Keira leaves the base path to initiate contact for the purpose of breaking up the double play. If the runner was not in a bona fide slide and initiated or attempted that contact for that purpose, the rule's interference penalty applies. If Keira had already been put out, the out is charged to the runner the defense was attempting to retire, not an invented runner selected by distance from home.
Related questions
Is any contact during a double-play slide interference?
No. A bona fide slide can include permissible incidental contact, and contact caused by a fielder entering the runner's legal pathway is also treated separately.
What makes a slide bona fide under Rule 6.01(j)?
All four criteria must hold: the runner starts the slide by contacting the ground before reaching the base; is able and attempts to reach it with a hand or foot; is able and attempts to remain on it after the slide, except at home plate; and slides within reach without changing the pathway to initiate contact with a fielder.
What if the sliding runner has already been put out?
The rule calls out the runner the defense was attempting to retire, rather than declaring the batter-runner out under the ordinary penalty branch.