Bailey viewed the ABS challenge system as an existential threat<\/a> as the league rolled it out. He has a more balanced view of it now.<\/p>\n\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to change the game as much as I originally thought it would,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cI think it\u2019s just going to take away the really big misses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several major league managers agree with Bailey: a reviewable strike zone might diminish the impact of pitch framing, but only to a degree. The new system will enhance the value of level-headed players who have a feel for the zone and deploy challenges efficiently. And if players have the power to correct the most egregious calls, then it\u2019ll make for a better game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it in spring training,\u201d Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. \u201cNot all the players, but most of the players, if you asked them, they really liked it too. It keeps everybody accountable. It keeps everybody on their toes. I do like the added challenge during extra innings. I thought the umpires were really locked in during spring training. Hitters were really locked in during spring training. I thought it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: \u201cI think it helps raise the level of consistency for umpires. And that\u2019s a good thing. \u2026 It\u2019s not a knock on umpires. I think it\u2019s a good thing for everyone if something elevates the level of performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Texas Rangers were among the teams that had ABS cameras installed in their spring training ballpark and used the experimental system in exhibition games. It only took a handful of them for manager Bruce Bochy to get on board with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it went well,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cIt kept the game moving. It was only about five seconds to take a look at it. I think it\u2019s about getting it right, and it\u2019s gonna take some complaining out. \u2026 I think it\u2019s a great system. We\u2019re all human, we\u2019re all gonna miss calls. I can tell you, if (the umpires) make a call that could maybe sway a game, they feel terrible too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you use up your two challenges and get them wrong, well \u2026 that\u2019s on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bochy, a former catcher, surmised that backstops would be most successful at challenging \u201cbecause the pitchers, they all think they\u2019re strikes, and the hitters all think they\u2019re balls.\u201d That\u2019s exactly what the data shows from the league\u2019s 288-game experiment in the spring. MLB said in a news release that calls were overturned 52.2 percent of the time; catchers had a 56 percent success rate, compared to 50 percent for hitters and 41 percent for pitchers.<\/p>\n
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, another former catcher, said that the rule change is bound to have unintended consequences and that every team will have to study its potential effects while tailoring policies for who is allowed to challenge or whether they are reserved for specific situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look back, all the new rules and new additions and changes, I see them all as positives,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cI think this is going to be another one. \u2026 The art of catching, the catcher framing, the catcher\u2019s impact on the game, I think, is going to remain an integral part of the strike-zone control. But now there\u2019s an opportunity for hitters and pitchers and catchers to (challenge) right or wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all going to see the sport a little differently. I don\u2019t think that we all know exactly how it\u2019s going to impact the game, but it\u2019s not going to fundamentally change the catcher\u2019s role in presenting a good target.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt joked that he would\u2019ve welcomed ABS challenges during his catching career \u201cbecause I couldn\u2019t receive worth crap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can like it, dislike it, it doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 it\u2019s coming,\u201d Vogt said. \u201cWe\u2019ll figure out what all that entails and how we\u2019re gonna implement that into our strategy or how we\u2019re gonna police it, but it\u2019s coming and we\u2019ve got six months to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who was among the players most often impacted by balls called strikes last season, said he might make different swing decisions knowing he has a challenge in his back pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith two strikes, I think the majority of hitters expand because we\u2019re worried about striking out, but you also don\u2019t necessarily want the call to be in the umpire\u2019s hands,\u201d Nootbaar said. \u201cSo now you can trust your eyes, and if it doesn\u2019t go your way, then you at least have something to challenge. I still think there\u2019s a place for umpires in this game. But this could have a ripple effect, where, if you\u2019re feeling good as a hitter, and then you get a challenge go your way, all of a sudden something big can happen. I\u2019m excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knowing the zone will become the new soft skill, especially because the zone\u2019s vertical limits will be different for each hitter. The ABS zone for each player is based on measurements taken by one independent party and verified by another; the top of the zone is defined as 53.5 percent of a player\u2019s height and the bottom of the zone is 27 percent of their height. The zone is 17 inches wide \u2014 the width of home plate \u2014 and pitch location is measured at the midpoint between the front and back of the plate. Any part of the ball only needs to tick the edge of the zone to be a strike.<\/p>\n
The league changed the height criteria several times while experimenting in Triple-A games over the past three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played with it since the first day they implemented it in 2022 and it\u2019s gotten pretty seamless,\u201d said Giants right-hander Tristan Beck, who has pitched for the club\u2019s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento in each of the past three seasons. \u201cThe game flows well. They\u2019re quick about it. At least in Triple A, they put it on the board and show where the pitch is.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut year over year, we saw the zone shrink. They continued to chop the top off, raise the bottom, lift up the edges. You\u2019d get used to that really tight zone at Triple A, especially in the days when it was 100 percent ABS. Then you come up here and get a missed call or get a strike at the top of the zone. That\u2019s been the adjustment the last couple years, so I\u2019ll be interested to see how it looks here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Especially when it comes to legislating who gets to challenge and when \u2014 an exercise that is sure to be influenced by big league egos.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo challenges isn\u2019t a lot,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWe\u2019d see teams run out of them pretty much every day at Triple A. I\u2019ve seen the first pitch of the game challenged multiple times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two seasons ago, when former Giants relief pitcher John Brebbia made a rehab appearance for Sacramento, he burned both his team\u2019s challenges in the first inning. It was easy to find the humor in it during a minor league game. In the big leagues, the stakes are a little higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re gonna have some guys where you tell them, \u2018If you miss today, you\u2019re not gonna get it tomorrow,’\u201d Giants manager Bob Melvin said. \u201cAnd other guys will be really good at it. Next spring, we\u2019ll feel that one out and see who is and who isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melvin almost certainly will give his catcher a perpetual green light. Bailey has even mused about intentionally \u201cun-framing\u201d pitches on occasion to trick a hitter into burning a challenge. When you are the league\u2019s best pitch framer, you have a pretty good idea at how to create an edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know what Patty does,\u201d Beck said. \u201cHe\u2019s the best I\u2019ve ever seen and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the best,\u201d Melvin said. \u201cHe\u2019s as good as it gets. And he understands it, too. He knows what his pitchers can do and where he needs to go to get these strikes. It makes a big impact. He\u2019s a pretty cerebral player on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So all things considered, is Bailey cool with the ABS challenge system?<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I don\u2019t know if it matters if we\u2019re cool with it,\u201d Bailey said.<\/p>\n
The players who serve on the competition committee were not unanimous in their approval, but that hardly mattered. There are just four players on the 11-person committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you were in favor of it or opposed, it was coming anyway,\u201d Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen said. \u201cWe had two-thirds of the clubhouse in favor of it. I do like the ability to be able to challenge some pitches in big spots. Maybe it\u2019s a 3-2 pitch, bases loaded and it\u2019s a strike, it\u2019s called a ball, you\u2019re out of the inning as opposed to giving up a run. So we\u2019ll see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Athletic\u2019s Katie Woo, Fabian Ardaya, Cody Stavenhagen, Matt Gelb, C. Trent Rosecrans, Mitch Bannon, Zack Meisel and Chris Kirschner contributed to this story<\/strong><\/p>\n(Photo of Patrick Bailey: Sean M. Haffey \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 No major-league catcher is better at framing pitches and coaxing borderline strike calls than Patrick…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":254245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1279,1280,1276,1281,1271,1274,5048,1282,1283,1885,2382,1284,1285,2502,1286,4247,1287,1266,1305,2228,5055,2083,1886,1306,1275,1288,62,222,3692,1289,1278,1290,67,132,68,1291],"class_list":{"0":"post-254244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","9":"tag-atlanta-braves","10":"tag-baltimore-orioles","11":"tag-boston-red-sox","12":"tag-chicago-cubs","13":"tag-chicago-white-sox","14":"tag-cincinnati-reds","15":"tag-cleveland-guardians","16":"tag-colorado-rockies","17":"tag-detroit-tigers","18":"tag-houston-astros","19":"tag-kansas-city-royals","20":"tag-los-angeles-angels","21":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","22":"tag-miami-marlins","23":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","24":"tag-minnesota-twins","25":"tag-mlb","26":"tag-new-york-mets","27":"tag-new-york-yankees","28":"tag-oakland-athletics","29":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","30":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","31":"tag-san-diego-padres","32":"tag-san-francisco-giants","33":"tag-seattle-mariners","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-sports-business","36":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","37":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","38":"tag-texas-rangers","39":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","40":"tag-united-states","41":"tag-unitedstates","42":"tag-us","43":"tag-washington-nationals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}