Ceddanne Rafaela watched a 2-2 sinker scream by for a called third strike with runners in scoring position during the top of the third inning in Miami Monday night. What happened next? Ceddy tapped his helmet, pushing for an ABS challenge on what was clearly a strike. The automatic ball-strike system confirmed it, Boston lost a challenge, and we’re left scratching our heads wondering what’s going on. It didn’t bite them then, but it definitely wasn’t ideal, right?
The Challenge That Made Us All Go “Huh?”
Watching Rafaela call for that challenge, a pitch that seemed so obviously in the zone, just made you think, “Man, Ceddanne’s gotta get better at this ABS thing.” Let’s be real, it’s not a knock on his game overall. This dude is legit. By the time the season wraps, he should be pulling down some serious down-ballot MVP votes. His offense has taken massive leaps, and his defense? Stellar, as always. He’s just gotta dial in that challenge instinct. We all have things to work on, nobody’s perfect. But for a pro, losing challenges on obvious strikes, especially with runners out there, that’s something that needs a fix. It got me thinking about how the Red Sox are even doing with ABS challenges overall this year, because it feels like we’ve been struggling with them all season.
Are The Sox Playing Catch-Up on ABS?
We’re five months into the campaign, so the sample size is huge. And guess what? The numbers from Baseball Savant don’t exactly paint a pretty picture. When it comes to successful challenge rates, Boston’s sitting at 14th in MLB for both hitters and defenders combined. Talk about being stuck in the middle! For hitters, their success rate is just under 50 percent, racking up 63 wins and 64 losses before Monday’s games. They went 1/2 on offensive challenges in Miami. The league average is 48 percent, so they’re barely above that. On defense, they hit a 60 percent success rate, nudging past the 58 percent league average. But here’s where it gets interesting: Boston seems a little trigger-shy compared to the rest of the league. Their offensive challenge rate is 4.4 percent, putting them right in the middle at 15th highest. But on defense? A measly 2.1 percent challenge rate, which is the 10th lowest in all of baseball. Catchers, by the way, are doing most of the challenging, with 4,398 challenges across the bigs compared to just 144 for pitchers. So it’s mostly on them and their decision-making back there.
Time to Get Sharper at the Plate
Look, the Red Sox are clearly not leading the pack in this new ABS world. Being 14th overall isn’t terrible, but it’s not where you want to be when every challenge counts. Ceddanne Rafaela’s gotta refine his eye for those calls, and the whole squad needs to get sharper on when to push that button. We’re well into the season, and these challenges add up. Improving this part of the game means keeping more guys on base, extending at-bats, and ultimately giving ourselves better chances to win. Let’s hope they start turning these numbers around and make every challenge count.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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