Substitute Player Policy

Summer 2026

Version 5

Purpose

The Substitute Player Process allows teams to replace injured or unavailable players. The aim is to maintain competitive integrity while preventing teams from gaining an unfair advantage through sub selection. A team should be at its most competitive with its original drafted players.

Specific rules governing substitution are also found in the D1 Rules. Where this policy and the D1 Rules differ on operational details, this policy controls; the D1 Rules control on questions of in-game play.

1. Substitute Categories and Priority

A Sub-Only player is a player who registers to be available as a substitute without being drafted to a team.

A Priority Sub is a new player who has been rated D1 through the Recreation Department evaluation process during the current season and has not yet been drafted to a team. (See D1 Rules B.2.)

When a team needs a substitute, the priority order is:

Priority Subs.
Sub-Only players.
Equivalently rated rostered players from other teams.

Managers are expected to follow this priority order whenever possible.

2. Sub Ratings

Player ratings correspond to draft rounds (Round 1 through Round 11).

The Sub Coordinator may reassign a player to an earlier round (for example, from Round 5 to Round 3) when that player is consistently performing significantly above other players drafted in the same round. For a drafted player, the revised rating applies only when that player is asked to substitute.
A drafted player may not be reassigned to a later round.
A Sub-Only player may be reassigned to a later round, with Board approval.
Any full-season substitute replacing a roster player requires Board approval before being placed on the team. (See D1 Rules B.4.)

3. Use of the Website

All substitution activity is managed through the league website at tvd1softball.com. Change requests are submitted there.

Sub-Only players review their availability on the website regularly and update it as their schedule changes.
Team managers review the website regularly to ensure it accurately reflects the status of their substitute players.
The day before each game, managers are encouraged to confirm that the Game Day Summary correctly lists their substitutes for the next day.

4. Regular Season — Substitution Guide

A substitute's round number must be the same as or larger than the round number of the rostered player being replaced.

Player Being Replaced	Eligible Substitutes
Round 1 player	Any drafted player or any Sub-Only player.
Round 2 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 2–11, or any Sub-Only player rated 2–11.
Round 3 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 3–11, or any Sub-Only player rated 3–11.
Round 4–5 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 4–11, or any Sub-Only player rated 4–11.
Round 6–7 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 6–11, or any Sub-Only player rated 6–11.
Round 8–9 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 8–11, or any Sub-Only player rated 8–11.
Round 10–11 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 10–11, or any Sub-Only player rated 10–11.

5. Regular Season — Substitution Limits

Players drafted in Rounds 1–9, and Sub-Only players rated 1–9, may substitute for any one team up to twice during the regular season.
Players drafted in Rounds 10–11, and Sub-Only players rated 10–11, may substitute for any team an unlimited number of times.

6. Game-Day Substitutes

After the first pitch, a rostered player whose spot has been filled by a substitute may not enter the game.

Whether a game-day sub counts toward the team's regular-season sub limits depends on when the sub enters the game:

If the substitute enters before the rostered player has completed one at-bat and played three outs in the field, the sub counts as one of the team's substitute uses.
If the substitute enters after that point, the sub does not count against the team's substitute uses.

Managers are required to notify the Sub Coordinator of any qualifying game-day changes within 24 hours.

7. Penalties for Abuse

If the Sub Coordinator finds a manager abusing the Game-Day Substitute rules, the Sub Coordinator may impose the following penalty: in the next game in which the team uses a substitute, the pool of eligible substitutes is reduced by one round.

For example, a substitute for a Round 2 rostered player would normally be drawn from Rounds 2–11. Under the penalty, the substitute must instead come from Rounds 3–11.

8. Post-Season

The following rules apply only during the post-season playoffs.

8.1 Sub-Only Players

Sub-Only players are not available during the playoffs.

8.2 Eligible Substitutes by Round

For players drafted in Rounds 1–9, a substitute must come from at least one round later (a higher round number). Players in Rounds 10 or 11 may be substituted for by any player in Rounds 10 or 11.

Player Being Replaced	Eligible Substitutes
Round 1 player	Any player drafted in Round 2 or later.
Round 2 player	Any player drafted in Round 3 or later.
Round 3 player	Any player drafted in Round 4 or later.
…and so on through Round 9	Sub must come from at least one round later.
Round 10 or 11 player	Any player drafted in Rounds 10 or 11.

8.3 Frequency

A player may serve as a substitute for a team only once during the playoffs.

Exception: if a team is scheduled to play two games on the same day, the same substitute may be used in both. If one of those two same-day games is later postponed, the same substitute may still be used when the rescheduled game is played.

8.4 Same-Day Limit

No player may play for two different teams as a substitute on the same day.