Report: MLB likely to ban home plate collisions after discussions this winter

Miguel Cabrera's plow into David Ross was one of two home plate collisions that occurred during ALCS Game 5. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

There is a growing sentiment within Major League Baseball that the league will soon ban home plate collisions, ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting.

Officials with teams outside of the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers -- who experienced two such collisions during Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday -- told Olney that the change is "inevitable" and "could come swiftly."

Recent injuries, including the strained knee ligament that forced Tigers catcher Alex Avila out of Game 5, and the recent swell of information regarding concussions has led to the shift in belief, according to the report.

"At this point, I don't know who would argue to keep it, or what their argument would be," said one team official who believes general managers will address the topic at their meetings next month. "There is no reasoned argument to keep it [in the game]."

When asked about the topic after Game 5, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland became the latest to say that he is in favor of change, and that he believes there will be change. Leyland is one of the 14 members of commissioner Bud Selig's advisory committee.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy, whose catcher Buster Posey missed most of the 2011 season after breaking his ankle in a collision, and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny have been two of the more vocal proponents of the ban.

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