The Boston Red Sox have not made great use of the new automatic ball-strike challenge system amid a five-game losing streak.
Boston started off the season strong with an opening day win against the Cincinnati Reds, but have fallen short in every game since. The introduction of the ABS system has added an extra wrinkle to decision making throughout each game, and the Red Sox have failed to use it to their advantage well, ranking in the bottom-third in the league in 45.5% success rate on challenges.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was ejected last week in a game where Boston ran out of challenges early, addressed the team’s poor use of the ABS challenge system so far.
“We have our system, we know the rules, but at the end, what happens in between the lines, sometimes emotions take over,” Cora said, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “And we have to take the emotional part of it out of the equation. Like the other day with Narvi (Narváez). He wanted that 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.
“It’s a process. It’s a new system. Some of them have been part of it in the minor leagues. Others have been detached from the system for three years or two years. They haven’t seen it, and there’s emotions involved. That’s the reality of it. So we have to kind of like slow it down. Sometimes it’s even like, play it without thinking that there’s a system until later in the game. Just play it straightforward. But at the same time, as a hitter, you know there’s a system 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.”
No matter which way you look at it, the Red Sox aren’t going to win every single challenge they make throughout the season. The key for them moving forward is for the team to remain more disciplined with their challenges so that they still have them in high-leverage situations, especially late in games.
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