MLB’s expanded roster, ghost runner may be perfect fit for Terrance Gore

With Major League Baseball having expanded rosters to start the 2022 season and the “ghost runner” rule back in place for extra-inning games, the opportunity may present itself for pinch runner extraordinaire Terrance Gore to find his way back onto an MLB roster.

Thanks to his speed and MLB’s expanded roster and “ghost runner” rules for the start of the 2022 season, Terrance Gore may be a free agent fit

According to reports, MLB will start the 2022 campaign with 28-man rosters for each team (through May 1) in order to help pitchers “stretch out” after a condensed spring training following the 99-day MLB lockout. Under the temporary expanded roster rule, teams are allowed to carry as many pitchers as they like as part of the 28-man roster. On May 2, however, the roster number will go back to 26 and no more than 13 of those may be pitchers.

There is also the notion of the “ghost runner” in extra-inning games, where the player who was last at-bat in the previous inning starts the next inning at second base. This rule will reportedly be in place only for the 2022 season and is intended to help games not go deep into extra innings, thus preventing additional pitchers from being needed.

All of this creates what seems to be a perfect storm for Terrance Gore, who has been a member of the last two World Series winners (Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves) simply because of his speed. As we noted in this article, Gore has some crazy career statistics, including appearing in just 102 regular-season games since the start of the 2014 season.

His ratio of stolen bases (40) to at-bats (67) since the 2014 campaign illustrates his speed, which Baseball Savant lists for Gore as 30.2 feet per second (during the 2019 season). That would put him among the seven fastest runners currently in MLB.

But there’s the trick … Gore currently isn’t on an MLB roster. He elected free agency from the Braves after they moved him off the 40-man roster following their World Series win, so Gore is available for any team to sign.

Yes, any team that signs him would have to not only put him on the 40-man roster, but also on the 28-man Opening Day roster if they choose to use his speed as a weapon with the new rules.

How? Imagine going into extra innings and you pinch run Gore for the batter who made the last out at the plate. With the universal designated hitter in place, a manager could switch around positions to get Gore into the game as a pinch runner (where he would start the extra inning at second base). His speed could be a definite advantage during the at-bat.

If Gore were to score and be on the visiting team, of course the home team would have the at-bat in the bottom of the frame to try to tie or win the game. With Gore pinch running, the team would lose the DH spot and the pitcher would bat in that position. However, with just 16 games lasting longer than 11 innings during the entire 2021 season (compared to 60 in 2019), the chance to score with Gore in what is likely a soon-to-end contest may be very appealing.

Could Gore be an early-season weapon for a team willing to take a chance on his speed and use a roster spot to bring him on board? Absolutely. Will a team do it before the end of spring training? That will be something interesting to watch.