who was fired on Saturday<\/a>, said before his firing that he wasn\u2019t bothered by the low rates. Cora preferred his players targeted high-pressure spots, even if it meant swallowing a potential challenge early in the game.<\/p>\n\u201cWe have challenged when we needed to challenge,\u201d Cora said earlier this month. \u201cThere are teams that are challenging 0-0 counts in the first inning. If they believe in that and if they feel like going from 1-0 to 0-1 in the first at-bat of the game makes sense for them, then they\u2019re going to do it. It doesn\u2019t make sense for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important to have them in the last part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272087635-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Kody Clemens and the Minnesota Twins are the most aggressively challenging club in baseball. (David Berding \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Angels shortstop Zach Neto did precisely what Cora described. On the first pitch of a game on April 11, when fans were still passing through the turnstiles, Neto tapped his helmet.<\/p>\n
Brandon Williamson\u2019s cutter nicked the top, outside corner of the zone. Thirty seconds into the game, the Angels were down to one challenge.<\/p>\n
The Angels are tied for seventh in total challenges and eighth in calls reversed. Manager Kurt Suzuki said he has offered \u201crecommendations\u201d and \u201cnot rules\u201d to his players, mostly to flex that muscle in a key moment. The first pitch of a game wouldn\u2019t fall in that category, but Suzuki deferred to his hitter\u2019s whims.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you feel 100% strongly that it\u2019s a ball,\u201d Suzuki said, \u201cgo ahead and challenge it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nationals sit on the other end of the spectrum, producing an overturned call on a league-low 39% of their challenges. Their catcher, Keibert Ruiz, is 6-for-12, but he admitted he has tricked himself this season because he has improved his framing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I catch it good,\u201d he said, \u201cI think it\u2019s a strike sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That might also be the case for Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, who annually rates as the best framer in the business. Expert framing can convince a hitter not to challenge. Or, it can fool a catcher into underestimating their own ability to make a borderline pitch resemble a strike.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that makes sense,\u201d said Bailey, who is 10-for-22 on challenges. \u201cI definitely haven\u2019t been as good as I wanted to be with the ABS.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conversely, Royals veteran Salvador P\u00e9rez, historically a below-average framer, leads the league with 19 overturned calls in 24 challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really comes down to having a catcher who\u2019s confident enough to challenge,\u201d said pitcher Seth Lugo, \u201cand Salvy\u2019s done a really good job for us on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catchers have proven successful on 61% of challenges this season, compared to 46% for hitters.<\/p>\n
ABS challenges breakdown (thru 4\/25)<\/p>\n
ChallengesTotalSuccessfulUnsuccessfulSuccess rate<\/p>\n
Overall<\/p>\n
1663<\/p>\n
892<\/p>\n
771<\/p>\n
54%<\/p>\n
Batters<\/p>\n
764<\/p>\n
355<\/p>\n
409<\/p>\n
46%<\/p>\n
Catchers<\/p>\n
861<\/p>\n
521<\/p>\n
340<\/p>\n
61%<\/p>\n
Pitchers<\/p>\n
38<\/p>\n
16<\/p>\n
22<\/p>\n
42%<\/p>\n
\u201cThe catcher,\u201d said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, \u201cwe have the best seat in the house. It\u2019s right there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler owns an 87% success rate behind the plate (13-for-15), but manager A.J. Hinch is urging him to take more initiative. Detroit\u2019s catchers have issued the third-fewest challenges in the league, despite boasting the highest success rate. Catching coach Ryan Sienko provides feedback each inning on pitches that could have been questioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ones that are toughest are the ones up and down,\u201d Dingler said. \u201cI\u2019ve started to be a little bit more confident in it because we can check when we go back in the dugout. It\u2019s mostly just trusting yourself in that situation to know the zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers have been far more liberal with it when behind the plate than at the plate. Manager Dave Roberts encouraged his hitters to be more aggressive after they neglected to protest several fringy pitches in the ninth inning of their April 19 game, despite having challenges available. They rank second-last in hitter challenges. Shohei Ohtani waited until this past week to issue his first two of the season. (He went 1-for-2.)<\/p>\n
The Guardians are aiming to push the envelope more, too. They own the second-worst success rate in the league (42%), but they insist they don\u2019t care about that.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Coaches) even told us,\u201d said outfielder Steven Kwan, \u201c\u2018There\u2019s gonna be a lot of media coverage on accuracy and accuracy is just a sexy number that shouldn\u2019t really mean anything.\u2019 Because it doesn\u2019t matter how many you get right out of how many you challenge, it\u2019s how many you get right in the aggregate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, as Kwan later acknowledged, the Guardians rank 28th in the aggregate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just not aggressive enough,\u201d said Cleveland hitting coach Grant Fink. \u2026 \u201cWe do not want to be tentative with it. It\u2019s OK to miss some as long as we\u2019re ripping them off at the right times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fink noted several instances in which hitters simply forgot they had the option to challenge, either because they were so engrossed in the at-bat or because they\u2019ve spent years resigned to accepting the umpire\u2019s verdict. Guardians star Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez didn\u2019t issue his first challenge until last Monday.<\/p>\n
For hitters, there\u2019s game theory behind the decision, based on the situation. Is it the right count and inning and score? Are there runners on base? Does the team have two challenges left, or only one? Is the hitter completely convicted in the call being incorrect?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a lot of information to cycle through in a split second. It\u2019s why, with two runners aboard and two outs in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-0 game on Wednesday, Kwan left the on-deck circle as the Astros held a mound meeting so he could remind Brayan Rocchio, who was about to bat, that the Guardians still had a challenge in their pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cRunners on, if it flips an at-bat, if it turns a walk into a strikeout, any of those kinds of things, those are no-brainers,\u201d Kwan said. \u201cAnd the egregious ones, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s considered egregious, of course, could vary from hitter to hitter or catcher to catcher.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of nuance to this, which is where certain metrics can offer context. Statcast measures how many overturned calls a particular team achieves compared to how the average team would fare seeing the same pitches. The Royals, Cubs and Mets have thrived in that regard, while the White Sox, Yankees and Giants rank at the bottom.<\/p>\n
Kwan said a 50-50 pitch could be worth a challenge, but added \u201cif it\u2019s like a 30% chance that it could be right, in a big moment, you should still do it, because you can never trust your eyes completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have time to go, \u2018The pitch happens\u2026 what\u2019s the count\u2026 can I do it right now\u2026 Oh. It\u2019s too late,\u2019\u201d said Nationals manager Blake Butera. \u201cThese guys need to figure it out as they go.\u201d<\/p>\n
After all, the pitch could breathe on the corner of the zone and it qualifies as a strike. Many of the calls in question boil down to a couple of tenths of an inch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the most beautiful thing ever when it\u2019s a clipper,\u201d said Reds starter Andrew Abbott, who has had two pitches converted into strikes that nicked the zone by 0.9 and 0.4 inches, respectively.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why many teams don\u2019t want their players resorting to a challenge any time they feel aggrieved. It should be strategic, not hubris-driven.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe emotion is what messes it up,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n
Reds manager Terry Francona has appreciated his hitters\u2019 early-game discipline. The Reds rank 26th in total challenges, but they have nailed 60% of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to take your pride out of it,\u201d said Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson. \u201cYeah, it might be a ball, but is it worth challenging and risking losing a challenge if it\u2019s the third inning and you\u2019re leading off the inning?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the first inning on April 18, Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo challenged an 0-1 splitter that the umpire ruled a ball. The scoreboard visual revealed that the pitch sailed 1.9 inches below the zone. Basallo shook his head and returned to his crouch, but Dean Kremer was then called for a pitch clock violation. In a matter of seconds, Kremer went from a possible 0-2 count to 2-1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere we get hurt on it,\u201d Albernaz said, \u201cis when our guys become emotional and use challenges at the wrong time, where it\u2019s not ending the at-bat. It\u2019s mid-at-bat and it\u2019s not an egregious ball. That\u2019s something where, with any hitter, there are always emotions when you\u2019re in the heat of the moment. It\u2019s tough to regulate that, but those are the constant conversations that we\u2019re having with guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
One month in, it\u2019s still a learning process for everyone, as teams search for the optimal strategies to capitalize on a new wrinkle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a vacuum, it should be simple,\u201d Kwan said, \u201cbut I think we\u2019re discovering now, it\u2019s not so simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
With contributions from The Athletic\u2019s Cody Stavenhagen, Spencer Nusbaum, Jen McCaffrey, Andrew Baggarly and C. Trent Rosecrans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the 265th pitch of their April 17 game, when the Baltimore Orioles needed some late-inning fortune, Leody…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2317,4818,2111,371,374,479,2318,2319,2320,1230,372,373,2321,2322,2323,2324,2325,2326,363,1189,369,480,2240,2328,2329,481,99,1231,974,2330,364,2331],"class_list":{"0":"post-609083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","9":"tag-athletics","10":"tag-atlanta-braves","11":"tag-baltimore-orioles","12":"tag-boston-red-sox","13":"tag-chicago-cubs","14":"tag-chicago-white-sox","15":"tag-cincinnati-reds","16":"tag-cleveland-guardians","17":"tag-colorado-rockies","18":"tag-detroit-tigers","19":"tag-houston-astros","20":"tag-kansas-city-royals","21":"tag-los-angeles-angels","22":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","23":"tag-miami-marlins","24":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","25":"tag-minnesota-twins","26":"tag-mlb","27":"tag-new-york-mets","28":"tag-new-york-yankees","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-st-louis-cardinals","36":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","37":"tag-texas-rangers","38":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","39":"tag-washington-nationals"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}