Courtesy Runner Rule in High School and Little League

What a courtesy runner is

A normal pinch runner is a substitution: the player who’s replaced leaves the game. A courtesy runner isn’t. They run for the pitcher or catcher while that player stays in the game, so the catcher can put their gear on and the pitcher can rest before the next inning. Games go faster, which is why the rule exists.

High school (NFHS)

In high school the courtesy runner is one of the optional speed-up rules. It isn’t part of the core rulebook, and each state association decides whether to adopt it, in full or in part. Some use it statewide, some leave it to conferences, and some require it only in the playoffs. Check your state association’s baseball manual.

Where it’s used, these are the usual terms:

• Courtesy runners may run for the pitcher and/or the catcher at any time.
• The runner has to be a player who hasn’t been in the game yet in any other way.
• A courtesy runner can’t then substitute for another player in that same half-inning, except when no one else is available after an injury, illness or ejection.
• A courtesy runner can’t run for the designated hitter.
• Breaking the rule makes the player an illegal substitute.

Some states add more, such as not letting the same player run for both the pitcher and the catcher in a game.

Little League

Little League has two different runners.

Courtesy runner (Rule 3.04). This one is a local league option in the regular season. It lets someone run for the pitcher or catcher of record when there are two outs. With a continuous batting order, where everyone bats, the courtesy runner is the player who made the last out. In tournament play a courtesy runner is allowed too. For 2026, Little League clarified where the courtesy runner goes on the bases.

Special pinch runner (Rule 7.14). This applies below the Senior League division, in baseball and softball.

• A player who isn’t in the batting order can run for any player.
• It’s allowed once per inning, and a player can be run for this way only once per game. Your league may also cap it at twice a game.
• The player who was run for stays in the lineup.
• It isn’t available when your league uses a continuous batting order.

MLB

The major leagues have no courtesy runner. A pinch runner there is an ordinary substitution, and the player replaced is out of the game.