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Ex-Red Sox ace won’t use new ABS system, Alex Cora explains why pitchers shouldn’t
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- Ex-Red Sox ace won’t use new ABS system, Alex Cora explains why pitchers shouldn’t
FORT MYERS — Chris Sale made it clear he does not plan to utilize the automated ball-strike system (ABS) when it’s implemented in 2026.
Beginning this season, pitchers, catchers and batters will be able to challenge a ball or strike call twice per game. They need to tap their head after the pitch to signal they wish to challenge the call.
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“I will never challenge a pitch. I will never do it. I won’t do it,” Sale told reporters Friday, per FOX 5’s Justin Felder . “I’m not an umpire. That’s their job. I’m a starting pitcher. I’ve never called balls and strikes in my life. Plus, I’m greedy, and I know that. I think they’re all strikes.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was happy to see his former ace say that.
“I was like, ‘Thank you, kid. Appreciate you,’” Cora said at JetBlue Park on Saturday.
“I think the information backs that up. And it seems like, you know, the catchers have the higher percentage of correct challenges. So most likely we’ll keep it like that.”
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Cora added that sometimes the pitcher doesn’t always have a consistent track of the baseball once it’s thrown. Pitchers might look down upon their delivery and only see where the ball is framed, not necessarily where it lands.
Because a team only gets two challenges, Cora doesn’t want to waste them early on and wants the Red Sox to be smart when it comes to potentially challenging a call they think the umpire got wrong.
“We’re not in the business of begging for pitches. We have to get it right. And there’s a method and there’s strategy with it,”he said. “Shame on us if we don’t have a challenge late in the game, or two of them, right? Because that’s when the game changes, and games are decided most likely in that last third of the game.”
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