ABS challenge system early hit as it makes MLB debut in Dodgers-Cubs spring training game

USA Today

21-02-2025

ABS challenge system early hit as it makes MLB debut in Dodgers-Cubs spring training game
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PHOENIX — Baseball Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch was on hand Thursday, but didn't ask for any artifacts for the museum.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Cody Poteet and Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy didn't hand over their jerseys to any authenticators, pose for any pictures together, or even autograph a baseball.
History was made Thursday with the first use of the automated ball-strike challenge system during the spring training game between the Cubs and Dodgers in front of 10,959 fans at Camelback Ranch.
Poteet and Muncy will forever be immortalized in ABS history; the former the first major-league pitcher to make a challenge, with Muncy becoming the first big-league player to be victimized by a challenge.
Yet, the only ones actually celebrating on this glorious 75-degree day were MLB executive vice president Morgan Sword, who was on hand along with other MLB executives, and veteran umpire Tony Randazzo behind the plate.
The challenge system, which even included iPads in each dugout for players to voice their complaints if desired, couldn't have gone better.
There were only two challenges the entire game.
One successful challenge.
And zero complaints.
'Everything worked well on Day 1,'' Sword said. 'A good first step.''
Any glitches at all?
'None,'' Sword said.
Instant success ... at least for a day.
The historic moment, if you want to call it that, occurred in the bottom of the first inning when Poteet faced Muncy. He threw a 95-mph fastball that clipped the bottom of the zone on an 0-1 pitch, but it was called a ball. Poteet was convinced it was a strike and immediately challenged. The pitch was shown on the scoreboard, and in a matter of seconds, the call was immediately overturned.
The Cubs retained their challenge.
And history was made.
'It's cool to be the one to fire away,'' Poteet said, surrounded by reporters. 'I wasn't shy about it for sure.''
The Dodgers couldn't help but laugh at the irony that Muncy was the victim of the first challenge. Manager Dave Roberts said before the game that anyone on the team would be permitted to challenge a call with a lone exception: Muncy.
'I told Muncy not to challenge,'' Roberts said. 'He's our biggest culprit of not agreeing with the strike zone, so I said, 'Save your challenges.'"
Said Muncy: 'Freddie (Freeman) said I was banned from being able to challenge. I came in here and he's waiting at my locker and laughing in my face that I was the one that got a challenge on. … It's funny how it worked out that I was the one that got challenged on.''
Yet, there was no argument by Muncy. He knew it was a strike before it was shown on the right-field scoreboard.
'I was pretty positive it was a strike,'' Muncy said. 'He called it, and I look out, and the pitcher looked very excited to challenge that one. I knew it was going to get overturned.''
Poteet, of course, had an advantage. He has spent most of his 10-year professional career in the minors. He knows how the system works.
'Using it a little bit last year,'' Poteet said, 'I guess it felt normal.''
Really, the Dodgers and Cubs said afterwards, nothing felt out of the ordinary.
Roberts, who said before the game that he hadn't made a decision on whether he'd be a fan, jumped on the bandwagon after the game.
'It was good,'' Roberts said. 'I think it's actually a pretty good system. Obviously, trying to figure out how many challenges make the most sense in a major-league ballgame. …
'But I like it, especially in a big spot you want to get the call right.''
The operation was so smooth on Thursday that fans and scouts in the stands didn't even flinch. If there are no hiccups this spring, MLB may adapt it as early as the 2026 season for regular-season and postseason games.
It could be around forever, just like instant replay is here to stay.
The ultimate decision will be made by MLB's competition committee, but union chief Tony Clark and the players hope they listen to their voice.
'We're the ones with our livelihood, and our careers are being affected by it,'' Dodgers veteran outfielder Michael Conforto said. 'So hopefully we have a say whatever happens. I know there's a competition committee, and a group that's making decisions, but it's a pretty drastic move. It's a pretty big change in the game.
'We have to be really thoughtful about how it's going to work.''
It could certainly provide an influx of jobs for folks in analytic departments. They'll be jamming algorithms in their computers to determine the most advantageous time to ask for a challenge, along with who is and isn't permitted to seek a challenge.
'There's definitely going to be an analytics deep-dive in the best situations to do it,'' Conforto said. 'It opens up a new area of the game. Can you use it only with men on? Men in scoring position? After the fifth inning? After the seventh? You don't want to leave anything on the table.''
But Conforto can save the Dodgers a whole lot of time and energy: Here's who'll be permitted to challenge in a game.
'Shohei (Ohtani), Freddie (Freeman) and Mookie (Betts) can challenge as much as they want,'' Conforto says. 'That's fair. If you're headed to the Hall of Fame, you get to use it.''
No one is going to rush to any conclusions quite yet, with this being the first game of the spring and with ABS being tested in 13 different ballparks in Arizona and Florida. Teams are permitted just two challenges, only by the pitcher, catcher or hitter. And the challenge must be made immediately without any assistance from the dugout or any other player on the field.
If you challenge and you're wrong, you lose a challenge. If you challenge and you're right, you retain the challenge, just like the way instant replay works.
'There will be a little give and take,'' says Dodgers pitcher Michael Grove, who has pitched part of the past four seasons in the minors, 'but I'm sure everyone will hate it.''
Grove laughed, but was curious to see how it differs from the minors to the big leagues.
'It's going to be interesting to see if the veterans like it or not,'' Grove said. 'I thought it was OK, but Triple-A is a little different because they change the zones a little bit. They shaved off a little bit up and down, which I didn't love. But the challenge system is weird because you can blow through all of those, and people get frustrated in the first inning.
'So, there's some strategy involved. If you're using one in the first inning, you better be adamant.''
Poteet agreed, saying he challenged it in the first inning only because he had no doubt he was right. Yet, if it were the first inning of a real game, well, maybe there could be a little hesitation.
'I don't know all the strategy that would go all into it in a nine-inning, big-league game,'' Poteet said, 'but I felt like there was a good, high percentage it was a strike, and I feel like every strike matters.''
So, he would do the same if he were pitching for the Cubs under manager Craig Counsell, who sarcastically pumped his fist towards Sword and two other MLB officials after Poteet's successful challenge?
'I'm sure the manager and whoever's coaching the team,'' Poteet said, 'will set some standards for guys.''
Well, maybe one day, but for now, Counsell says he's not going to waste any time talking strategy until it's actually implemented.
''It's a test for some future, unknown thing,'' Counsell said Wednesday. ''So, it's a little hard to put your head in and really prepare for it when there's enough that we've got to get ready for.''
But get ready. It's coming, and soon.
'I'm in favor of it,'' Dodgers infielder/outfielder Kike' Hernandez said. 'There's definitely more balls that are called strikes than strikes that are called balls.''
Says Conforto: 'It'll be real interesting to see who's going to adapt to it quicker? Do the pitchers have the same zone every day? Since hitters have their own personal zone, is it going to be the same every single day?
'I think everyone is wondering who gets the biggest advantage. That'll tell you who's for it and who's against it.''
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