Red Sox don’t take long to find the value of ABS challenges

CINCINNATI — The ABS challenge system is in its infancy and for now, it remains unclear what impact it might have on Major League Baseball. That will take months, perhaps longer, to determine.

But right out of the gate, the new system helped the Red Sox in a big way on Opening Day.

The Red Sox were clinging to a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds Thursday. With two out and one on and a full count on Roman Anthony, home plate umpire Dan Iassogna called Anthony out on a called third strike.

Anthony, however, knew otherwise. He immediately tapped his cap to signal a challenge, and sure enough, the ABS system showed the pitch to be a couple of inches below the strike zone. Instead of an inning-ending strikeout, Anthony took his base with a walk.

Trevor Story then singled to left to score Marcelo Mayer from second base and Jarren Duran followed another run-scoring single to right. Instead of a one-run lead to preserve for closer Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the inning, it was a three-run cushion.

“It’s a different ballgame now,” said Alex Cora. “If that’s a strikeout, it’s a 1-0 game with Chappy in the game, in this ballpark. And then we were able to add on, so it was a great challenge.”

Anthony is known to have excellent command of the strike zone and was familiar with the system from his time at Worcester last year. There was never any hesitation that he was going to challenge the pitch in question.

“I was sure (the pitch was a ball),” said Anthony. “I knew it was a ball. I’ve been rung up on that one before and I went back and thought, ‘Yeah, I was right.’ I knew it was a ball and was pretty confident with it. I trust my instincts and my discipline at the plate.”

As teams are bound to discover, timing is everything with using challenges. It’s essential to have one remaining for the late innings of a close game.

“You see it right there, it’s crucial,” said Anthony. “It can turn the game around, or has the ability to. You saw what happened after (with the run-scoring hits once the inning was extended), so it’s crucial to have (a challenge) there. I thought we did a good job of keeping them and maintaining them.”

“It’s where we’re at now,” said Cora of the new rule. “It’s going to be interesting.”

Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.