Major League Baseball's rules committee has approved a ban on home plate collisions in a bid to improve player safety.
The change, announced at MLB's winter meetings in Orlando, Florida, could take effect as early as next season if the Major League Players Association approves it.
Otherwise, MLB can unilaterally enforce the change in 2015.
MLB vice president of baseball operations and New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said several issues had prompted the change.
"One is just the general occurrence of injuries from these incidents at home plate that affects players, both runners and catchers -- and also the general concern about concussions that exists not only in baseball but throughout professional sports and amateur sports today," Alderson said in remarks posted on MLB's Twitter feed.
"It's an emerging issue and one that we in baseball have to address as well as other sports."
Exact details of a rule governing the actions of base runners and catchers have yet to be worked out.
Currently, catchers are barred from blocking home plate with their bodies unless they already have the ball or are fielding the ball, although enforcement of that rule is irregular.
Even if a catcher is legally blocking a runner's path to the plate giving him little chance to score, base runners sometimes plow through.
A new rule could ban catchers from blocking home plate and insist that runners have to slide into home if there is a play at the plate.
"The exact language and how exactly the rule will be enforced is subject to final determination," Alderson said.
Source: DSG
