The Guardians' struggles with ABS reached a laughable low in loss to Red Sox 

While the Cleveland Guardians are one of baseball’s best teams at getting on base, they still haven’t figured out how to properly use the Automated Ball-Strike system. For most of the year, that disadvantage lurked in the background of their games but never became a huge talking point. 

That won’t be the case after Sunday. 

After Tanner Bibee gave the Guardians a solid start that seemed to set the Guardians up for a series-securing win over the Red Sox, things unraveled in the seventh inning thanks in large part to a game-tying, bases-loaded walk to Wilyer Abreu that came on a ball that was clearly in the strike zone. 

That run ended up looming large, as the Red Sox took the lead an at-bat later on a Masataka Yoshida two-run single that led to a 9-4 Boston win. 

But, instead of Austin Hedges being able to tap his head and walk back to the dugout following an inning-ending strikeout, the only thing he could do was hop around in frustration thanks to the Guardians’ lack of challenges. 

It would be one thing if he didn’t have any challenges because they used them in the right spots.

But instead, Cleveland was challengeless because Stuart Fairchild burned one in the fifth inning after he got caught looking at strike three with the bases loaded and José Ramírez used one an inning later on a ball down and in that caught most of the plate. 

The Guardians’ loss on Sunday can be put on their poor ABS decisions 

The Guardians are now 25-for-68 on challenges this season (36%), which is the third-lowest mark in baseball behind the Red Sox and Brewers. And that clear limitation has never looked larger than it does right now after Sunday’s back-breaking win. 

Cleveland clearly understands the strike zone. They entered play on Sunday with a team on-base percentage of .319 and 243 walks. But for whatever reason, they haven’t figured out how to use that eye to their advantage at the plate. 

Rhys Hoskins has won 71% of his challenges (5-for-7) and Brayan Rocchio has been solid (6-for-9), but they’re the only two hitters who have won better than 50% of their challenges. Sunday was only the third time Ramírez has challenged a pitch this year, and he looked hesitant to do so.

But Ramírez has earned the ability to challenge thanks to the stripes of his jacket; this was Fairchild’s third game with the Guardians and has yet to put a ball in play. He’s a disciplined hitter, but his swing and challenge decision put the Guardians in a hole they shouldn’t have been in. 

Patrick Bailey’s been solid being the plate (13-for-19 on challenges), but that also doesn’t mean much if the batters burn all their challenges before he gets a chance to use them behind the plate. That’s the exact situation Hedges found himself in during the seventh inning. 

The Guardians still have four months to figure the ABS system out before the season comes. They’re going to need to figure out how to use it at some point before then, otherwise they could be sitting on the couch in October watching pitches get challenged like the rest of us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow