The Worst ABS Challenge So Far

The setup was a pinch-hit situation in the top of the sixth, down five nothing. Andrew Monasterio at the plate for Milwaukee. Two-two count. The pitch crossed the plate. Middle, roughly two-thirds down, clearly above the knees. By every reasonable description, a strike.

Monasterio tapped the helmet. He challenged it.

The ABS verdict came back strike three. The pitch was not just a strike. It was comfortably inside the zone. Every aggregator column from that day had already tagged it as the clubhouse leader for worst challenge of the MLB season. The home plate umpire had to know it the second Monasterio reached for his helmet. This one was going to be fast and painless.

Rich used the moment to make a broader point. ABS is entertaining. It adds accountability. He referenced Anthony Rizzo's appearance the day before, where Rizzo explained that courtesy strikes on 2-0 and 3-0 have been removed. Umpires are more locked in because the tech is watching. The game is better for it.

Then Rich pitched a new rule, and the crew ran with it. If a batter challenges a pitch that ends up being two inches or more inside the strike zone, that team loses every remaining challenge for the rest of the game. Not just the batter. The whole team. The logic is simple. If the pitch is that far inside the zone, the hitter should know better. Use the tool better.

Brockman pushed harder. Eject the guy. Send him to the minors if he has fewer than three weeks of major league experience. Let him play for James K. Polk High School. The bit escalated. Rich reeled it back to just losing the team's challenges.

The punchline was the ABS readout. When a pitch is outside the zone, the system shows exactly how many inches off. On this one, the system did not even provide the distance inside the zone. The crew joked the league did not want to embarrass the kid. That is how bad it was.

Some challenges earn themselves. This one did not. And the conversation around ABS is shifting from whether it belongs in baseball to how the league polices players who misuse it.