By james art The first check-swing challenge in professional baseball history took place in the Arizona Fall League on Tuesday. New York Mets prospect Drew Gilbert, playing for the AFL’s Scottsdale Scorpions, believed he wasn’t outclassed at 3-1. The third-base umpire still called it a swing, prompting Gilbert to tap his helmet and begin a review.
In this first case, it turned out to be a success: examination eventually showed that Gilbert had not broken the 45-degree plane.
“Guys like it, we’ll see,” Gilbert said. “I mean, obviously they’re going to need a little more trial and error. But it’s a good idea.
Major League Baseball tested a check-swing challenge system in the AFL this fall using cameras installed at Salt River Fields in Talking Stick, home of the Salt River Rafters. As is the current check-swing rule, if the manager or catcher believes the home plate judge’s judgment is wrong, they will point to the umpire at first or third base to appeal. Whatever this UMP says is final. Beneath this new camera-assisted system, however, is another level of review. Catchers and managers still appeal to players at first or third base, but if players disagree, they can now challenge and go to the video to see if the swing has crossed the 45-degree threshold that distinguishes a check swing from full swing.
The Scottsdale Scorpions and Salt River Rafters were informed before their game on Tuesday that the check would likely be called a swing, simply to test the technology. Players will then have the ability to call for challenges.
“I really didn’t know until about 10 minutes before the game,” Gilbert said.
During the Arizona Fall League, Mets prospect Drew Gilbert became the first player to cause a check swing call
(via @baseballamerica) pic.twitter.com/CVioqV2uSz
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Only hitters, pitchers and catchers may challenge a check swing, and each team is granted two challenges per game with an additional third if two are used by the ninth inning.
Will this be coming to majors soon? No. The check-swing challenge system is nothing more than a proof of concept right now, a person familiar with the development said Athletic.
Among the rule changes that have undergone preliminary testing in the AFL in the past include the pitch clock, which has since been implemented in the majors, and the automated ball strike challenge system (ABS) that has been installed at all Triple venues -A each of the last two seasons. Talking Stick’s Salt River Fields is the only AFL stadium with high-definition cameras, which are critical to the Hawk-Eye system used for ABS and Statcast data at major league stadiums.
MLB’s Official Baseball Rules do not offer a definition of a check swing, only that a strike is a pitch “hit by the batter.” The practical definition is when a batter swings less than the first base line (for righties) or the third base line (for lefties). This ambiguity does lead to some lingering questions as these tests begin.
“There were a couple of questions I was going to ask, thinking that the computer probably couldn’t recognize that type of swing where a guy starts swinging and then almost gets hit by a pitch,” Scottsdale Scorpions manager Dennis Pelfrey said. “The barrel can go that far, but having a feel for the game, most umpires won’t call that a swing, but it very well might be from a computer perspective.”
Before MLB approved the top-level pitch clock, it was tested in more than 8,000 minor league games, the person with knowledge of the loopholes said. A pitcher may exit the mound and a hitter may request time out of the batter’s box at any time, such as in the early stages of the rule. It’s too early to tell when or if the check-swing challenge will reach the minors.
But Pelfrey envisioned a perfect world in which the system would be available for baseball’s biggest games.
“In my opinion, the check swing is really difficult for umpires because the club goes in and out of the zone so quickly,” Pelphrey said. “A lot of times I feel like it’s an assumption for them. But I think if we have those challenges in some of the biggest moments in the game — in the World Series in the ninth inning, if a guy gets a check swing — we can at least challenge him to see.”
(Gilbert photo: Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)