Twins Manager Derek Shelton Ejected For Arguing ABS Challenge Rule

It took just three games for new Twins manager Derek Shelton to pick up his first ejection of the season. He was tossed in the ninth inning of Sunday's 8-6 loss in Baltimore for arguing that a successful Orioles ABS challenge should not have been granted.

With one out and a runner on first, Bell appeared to draw a walk on two different occasions. Closer Ryan Helsley's 3-0 pitch was called a ball, but catcher Adley Rutschman challenged and the call was overturned. After a foul ball drew the count full, Helsley's 3-2 was called a ball. This time, it was Helsley who challenged, and the call was overturned to a key strikeout. Instead of having two runners on with one out, the Twins still had only one on with two outs.

Shelton was livid. He wasn't arguing the pitch, which did clip the strike zone. He didn't think Helsley challenged quickly enough. Under the new ABS challenge system, players must challenge by tapping their head within a couple seconds after the play happened. Shelton could be seen saying something along the lines of "that's too f***ing late" as he protested to the umpiring crew. He was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Segal.

It's the first ABS-related ejection in MLB history.

Ryan Helsley successfully challenged this 3-2 call to strike out Josh Bell in the ninth, but Twins manager Derek Shelton didn't think he did so fast enough pic.twitter.com/9EF7ijmp7B
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 29, 2026

Watching the play back, Helsley did go to his hat pretty much immediately after the umpire's call — though he did so somewhat hesitantly before waiting a second and tapping his hat again for confirmation. It's possible Shelton only saw the second tap, which was arguably done too late.

"I didn't think Helsley tapped his hat quick enough," Shelton said after the game. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but I didn't feel he did. It's gotta be something that's within three seconds and I didn't think it was there. Umpiring crew thought it was."

After Victor Caratini proceeded to reach on a fielding error to keep the game alive, James Outman flew out to end the game and seal a series victory for the Orioles.

ABS challenges were a big part of Sunday's contest. There were ten of them in total, including failed ones from Byron Buxton and Matt Wallner that resulted in the Twins not having any additional challenges to use. Once you get two wrong in a game, you don't get any more. Wallner's, which came in a huge spot in the game, wasn't even close. The Orioles were successful on five of their six challenges, including the two in the Bell at-bat.

It wasn't the only time on Sunday that Bell was involved in a play where Shelton disagreed with the umpires' call. In the fourth inning, Bell was ruled to have gone out of the baseline while running from second to third base. It was one of three outs the Twins made on the basepaths in the game.

"The Josh Bell one, I disagree with what was called," Shelton said. "The rule reads you have three feet at the initiation of tag, and in my opinion it was not three feet. When he tagged him, he had the ball in his hand, so he wouldn't have been out. I asked them to go back and look at the replay postgame to see if he thought it was three feet. I looked at the replay, I don't think it was three feet."