MLB reportedly admits Rizzo's slide was illegal, but won't be suspending him for it

Anthony Rizzo slid hard into San Diego catcher Austin Hedges on Monday night

By now, you're fully aware that Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo undertook a controversial slide into Padres catcher Austin Hedges on Monday night. In this space we were in general agreement that Rizzo's slide was in violation of the rules, and it appears that MLB agrees with that assessment. Here's the scoop from Fox's Ken Rosenthal:

Major League Baseball, according to sources, informed both clubs Tuesday that Rizzo was in violation of Rule 7.13, which the sport introduced in 2014 to protect catchers from such collisions.

As Rosenthal goes on to note, there's no precedent for suspending a player in violation of Rule 7.13. On that point ... 

Anthony Rizzo told #Cubs writers that Joe Torre informed him that he violated home-plate collision rule, but would not be disciplined.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 20, 2017

In this instance, clarifying that it's an illegal slide is probably enough to communicate the message.