Less than a week into the new MLB season and we have our first ABS-related ejection.
Twins manager Derek Shelton was tossed in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 8-6 loss to the Orioles after he argued that pitcher Ryan Helsley had not called for a challenge fast enough, after ABS overturned a ball called that would have walked batter Josh Bell. Instead, it was called strike three for the second out of the inning.
Shelton was convinced Helsley did not tap the top of his hat quickly enough for the umps to go to the ABS review.
A look at the broadcast appeared to show that Helsley signaled for an ABS challenge almost immediately after the umpire’s call and then did so again seconds later, which may have been the motion Shelton had seen leading to the outburst.
The Twins’ skipper was on the field yelling at the umpires in a very animated fashion that led to him being ejected from the game.
“I didn’t think Helsley tapped his hat quick enough,” Shelton told reporters after the game, per the Baltimore Sun. “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. But I didn’t feel he did. I feel it’s gotta be something that’s in the three seconds and I didn’t think it was there. But the umpiring crew thought it was.”
The rules around ABS challenges state that a player must indicate a challenge immediately and there is a rough timeframe of two seconds for one to be made.
The overturned call led to the second out of the inning.
Victor Caratini reached on a fielding error for the Twins before Helsley was able to get James Outman to fly out to left field for the final out of the game.