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From the MLB rule book, the rule states:

Determining rookie status:

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

From point (a), do post-season (playoff) at-bats or innings pitched count when determining rookie status?

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  • that's a good question, clearly September does not count, but the post season is uncertain here
    – wax eagle
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 13:02

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Statistics are collected separately for the "postseason" and "championship season." Assuming he has not accumulated 45 days on the active roster before Sept. 1st, a rookie must accumulate more than 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched before the end of the "championship season" to not be considered a rookie the following championship season.

Do post-season (playoff) at-bats or innings pitched count when determining rookie status?

To answer your question, no.

"Postseason" includes the one-game wild card playoff, the best-of-5 divisional series, the best-of-7 championship series, and the best-of-7 world series.

The "championship season," as it is refered to in the 2012 Official Baseball Rules, includes the 162 games scheduled by the Major League and "any games played to break a divisional tie."

The rules explicitly state how stats for games to break divisional ties are handled (Rule 10.20, in part):

Any games played to break a divisional tie shall be included in the statistics for that championship season.

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The CBA wiki is a bit more clear on this subject:

more than 45 days on a Major League active roster during the 25-man limit period (April-August), excluding time on the disabled list.

And this jives with some other things like the fact that service time is awarded for the 183 day regular season (though you get just 172 days of service time). That the playoffs are not counted in service time for other players. And finally that you don't want to penalize teams or the rookies themselves for being in the playoffs (an extended playoff run could remove a players eligibility for the rookie of the year award the following year).

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  • To elaborate, how would an players eligibility for rookie of the year award be removed by an extended playoff run?
    – user527
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 14:05
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    basically if you played all of August and September (accumulating 31 days of service time because Sept is not counted), and then your team did well in the playoffs and you were on your team's roster for 15 days of playoff baseball. You'd be ineligible for the ROY next year. However, because that is not counted, you would be eligible under current rules.
    – wax eagle
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 14:09

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