The Boston Red Sox are navigating a rocky start to the season, and their struggles with the ABS challenge system are adding to their woes.
In a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Sox burned through their challenges by the third inning, leaving them unable to contest several questionable calls by umpire CB Bucknor later on. A similar scenario played out on Tuesday when Ceddanne Rafaela lost a challenge in the third inning. The team's tendency to use challenges in low-leverage situations has been costly.
With the challenge system still relatively new, teams are in a learning phase, figuring out optimal strategies. The Red Sox, acknowledging their need for improvement, are working on refining their approach. Manager Alex Cora emphasized the importance of removing emotion from the decision-making process.
“We have our system, we know the rules, but at the end, what happens in between the lines, sometimes emotions take over,” Cora explained. He highlighted an instance involving Narvi (Narváez), who, driven by the moment, challenged a call in hopes of securing a strikeout.
“He knows that Ranger (Suárez) is kinda finding it but struggling. And that’s, ‘Let me get this one.’
And that’s why he did it.”
Currently, the Red Sox are below the league average in successfully overturning calls. Cora pointed out that emotions often influence players’ decisions to challenge.
“It’s a process. It’s a new system,” Cora noted.
“Some players have experience with it from the minors, while others have been away from it for years. The emotional aspect is real.
We need to slow it down and sometimes play without thinking about the system until later in the game.”
Cora added, “As a hitter, you know the system is there, and you believe that pitch is a ball. It’s your at-bat.
You’re like, ‘forget that. This is a ball.’
Sometimes you’re gonna be right. Sometimes you’re gonna be wrong.”
The key for the Red Sox is finding a balance between using the system effectively and preserving challenges for crucial moments. While many challenged calls are close, understanding the game situation and saving a challenge for later might be the smarter play.