Minnesota Twins manager Derek Shelton took his anger at baseball’s new automated ball-strike (ABS) system out on the umpires Sunday after the technology overturned a call that cost his team an out.
With the Twins trailing the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 in the bottom of the ninth with two on and one out, O’s pitcher Ryan Helsley threw what appeared to be a ball on a 3-2 count that would have loaded the bases. The pitch was ruled a ball by the home plate umpire. However, Helsley tapped his head, signaling for a review.
The ABS showed that the pitch barely touched the edge of the strike zone, and the call was overturned, resulting in the Twins’ second out.
This didn’t sit well with Shelton, who immediately ran out of the dugout to protest.
However, Shelton’s real beef was not so much with the call as with the timing of Helsley’s signal for review. Shelton apparently thought that Helsley didn’t make the sign quickly enough.
The umpires either found Shelton’s case wanting or just thought he got too carried away because they ejected him after only a brief exchange.
“And Derek Shelton’s been thrown out!” Orioles announcer Kevin Brown said. “You can’t defeat the robots!”
Ultimately, technology also undid Shelton’s complaints about Hensley. The replay showed that Hensley signaled for the review almost immediately.
The Orioles eventually held on for the win, 8-6.
Technology defeated Shelton 2-0.