Pirates' Paul Skenes Has Strong Stance on ABS
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PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes has dominated almost every challenge he's faced in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, but has a different one this year that out of the realm of what he can control.
MLB introduced the ABS challenge system with ABS standing for, "Automated Ball-Strike", which allows players to challenge the home plate umpire's call of a ball or a strike.
The league uses five Hawk-Eye cameras at all 30 MLB stadiums, which are there for Statcast, which track the movement of the baseball and determine whether the call was correct or not.
While some players have had their issues with ABS, Skenes likes the new system, which he sees benefitting everyone.
"It's pretty cool," Skenes said in an interview with ESPN. "I don't think it's been super one-sided where the pitchers are getting a lot more than the hitters. It feels right so far."
MLB teams have two challenges each game for ABS and lose them if they are wrong and retain them if they are right.
ABS determines whether a ball is a strike if it touches even any part of the strike zone and even if the ball is mostly outside of it, as long as it touches it, it will be called a strike.
"The strike zone is the strike zone," Skenes said in support of ABS. "A tenth of an inch inside the zone is still a strike. I wouldn't change anything."
How Pirates Have Fared with ABS So Far
The Pirates have used ABS this season with it going their way at times and other times not.
Two Pirates pitchers have made ABS challenges, with right-hander Bubba Chandler successful on his and left-hander Gregory Soto not successful on his.
Chandler's came in his most recent appearance, where he tipped his ball cap, but not intentionally, as that is a normal gesture from him on the mound. It ended up working in the series finale vs. the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 12, but he made sure the home plate umpire knew that further on, he wouldn't challenge pitches that way.
Pirates catcher Henry Davis is 5-for-7 on his ABS challenges, which was tied for the lowest rate at 71.4%, but most catchers have incredibly high success rates on it.
Davis also challenged a pitch in Evan Sisk's almost immaculate, nine-pitch inning vs. the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on April 13, more as a gesture rather than as him truly challenging the low ball call.
Pirates batters have successful challenged pitches 55.6% of the time, sixth best in baseball, and the Pirates' 55.9% success challenge rate is 15th best in baseball.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.