The ABS challenge system was supposed to play to the Cleveland Guardians’ strengths. On paper, they had the kind of roster that could thrive with it: disciplined hitters like Steven Kwan, plus a catcher in Austin Hedges who was built for the details of the strike zone.
That edge has not shown up in the numbers.
More than halfway through the season, the Guardians are sitting on the wrong end of one of the more curious challenge stats in baseball. Their hitters have been among the least successful teams in the majors when it comes to getting a ball-strike call overturned.
Alden González summed up the landscape this way: “The five most often wrong … Braves, Guardians, Pirates, Nationals, Padres,”
He also posted the teams that have been most accurate on offensive challenges:
“The five offenses correct most often on challenges heading into today …
Astros
Reds
D-backs
A's
Royals
The five most often wrong …
Braves
Guardians
Pirates
Nationals
Padres
What does that tell us? Absolutely nothing.”
Baseball Savant has Cleveland at a 39 percent success rate on batting challenges, which is better than only the Atlanta Braves at 37 percent. The San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates are both at 40 percent, while the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels sit at 41 percent.
The volume is there, too. The Guardians’ 100 batting challenges are the eighth most in baseball, but their 61 failed challenges are tied for the most in the sport with the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland has used successful challenges to avoid just eight strikeouts, while also picking up seven walks.
At the top of the offensive leaderboard, the Houston Astros have separated themselves from everyone else. They’ve won 68 of 110 total batter challenges, a 62 percent clip that puts them well ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in second at 56 percent.
Cleveland hasn’t fared much better on the other side of the ball. When pitchers or catchers are the ones challenging, the Guardians rank third-to-last at 47 percent, ahead of only the Chicago White Sox at 46 percent and the Pirates at 41 percent.
The Guardians’ 91 challenges as the pitching team are tied for 18th, far behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who lead the majors with 142. Cleveland’s 43 successful challenges have produced 12 strikeouts, but only two walks have been erased.
Some clubs have clearly gotten the hang of the system better than others. The Guardians, though, would probably like to see that change before the season moves any further along.
In Other News...
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The Guardians have spent the season leaning on remarkable rotation continuity, sticking with the same five starters all year and getting steady results from a group that has carried a 3.80 ERA. For a club trying to keep its pitching plan intact, that kind of stability matters, especially when the organization is counting on the pipeline to keep feeding the big league staff.
Chris Antonettis announcement on Khal Stephen cuts directly into that depth. The pitching prospects surgery removes one of the more important fallback options the Guardians had stocked away, leaving Logan Allen, Austin Peterson and Yorman Gmez as the names most likely to be asked to help next if the major league staff needs reinforcements. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Finally Have An Internal Answer For Their Biggest Problem
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Jace LaViolette, the former Texas A&M first-round pick, has been producing in High-A, even if the strikeouts remain part of the package. Ralphy Velazquez is the other bat drawing attention, and his path looks a little longer as he settles into Triple-A, with a realistic arrival window that points more toward 2027 than next season. [Read more 🡒]
Triston McKenzies Comeback Just Hit Another Painful Turn
Triston McKenzies path back to relevance has taken another rough detour, with the right-hander now looking for his next stop after a difficult stretch in the Padres organization. Once one of Clevelands most intriguing young arms, McKenzie had built real momentum with his breakout 2022 season before an arm injury in 2023 changed the trajectory of his career and sent him into a long fight to regain his form.
The latest setback came after a brutal run at Triple-A El Paso, where the command issues that have followed him for months never really let up. For a pitcher whose appeal has always started with feel and strike-throwing, the numbers told a harsh story, and now free agency gives him another reset point even as the unanswered question around his comeback remains the one that matters most. [Read more 🡒]