The rules analyst has become a critical component in NFL and college football broadcasting. Having an expert and former referee on hand to explain the inner workings of a penalty call or break down why a decision was made is helpful for neophyte audiences that don’t have the rulebook memorized.
While baseball is as much a game of nuanced and arcane rules, if not more so than football, Fox’s usage of a rules analyst during Game 7 of the 2025 World Series didn’t exactly do much to justify the need.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani took to the mound for the do-or-die series finale, and viewers likely noticed that the two-way player was being given extra time to warm up between innings. Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider certainly noticed and seemed confused as well.
Fox announcer Joe Davis brought in Mark Carlson, a 27-year MLB umpire, to offer insight, as their rules expert, on why the officials were letting that happen.
The MLB rules analyst doesn’t exactly make for riveting television. ⚾️📺🎙️ #MLB #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/BkZzYieF6l
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 2, 2025
“Shohei’s obviously a unique player, that he’s a two-way player,” said Carlson. “And as a pitcher, if he ends the ending at bat on base or on deck, he gets the discretion of the umpires to allow him to have the appropriate time to pitch.”
“I think he’s taking advantage of it, though, Mark,” responded analyst John Smoltz. “I mean, obviously, this is not the National League rules. I mean, I get it. He wasn’t running the bases. But is there a point where you think that he might be taking advantage of it?”
“You know, I mean, this is the World Series,” added Carlson. “You don’t want to take the potential of a pitcher being injured and rushing and getting back out there. I understand that there are time limits and stuff, but I think because it is the World Series, you take the proactive approach to let him have the opportunity to get his proper warmups.”
So basically, Fox brought in the rules analyst so that he could say, “I dunno, just seems like the nice thing to do.” We didn’t learn anything about any specific rules. Even Smoltz didn’t seem convinced there was enough reason for Ohtani to be given extra time.
Carlson’s toothless appearance didn’t add much to the broadcast and annoyed many viewers, including those in the sports media space.
It was not very clarifying https://t.co/CaPhZX35B7
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) November 2, 2025
Yeah, I just wanted to know the rule. And he can’t do whatever he wants.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) November 2, 2025
Mark Carlson is obviously no Mike Pereira as a rules analyst.
— Joe DeCamara (@JoeDeCamara) November 2, 2025
The rules analyst is struggling to explain the rules.
— Carrington Harrison (@cdotharrison) November 2, 2025
Unfortunately, one issue that often comes up with rules analysts is that they’re either still active umpires or too defensive about umpires, so they’re unwilling to call honest balls and strikes. That’s usually how you end up with something like this. The odds that Carlson was going to be anything other than deferential to what the umps in this game were doing were slim to none.
We’d hope that Fox considers bringing in someone with more distance who is willing to be firmer and more direct next time.