{"id":108437,"date":"2026-02-15T04:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T08:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/sale-rejects-the-abs-challenge-i-am-not-an-umpire-trusts-his-pitching-and-catchers\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T04:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T08:57:12","slug":"sale-rejects-the-abs-challenge-i-am-not-an-umpire-trusts-his-pitching-and-catchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/nationals\/sale-rejects-the-abs-challenge-i-am-not-an-umpire-trusts-his-pitching-and-catchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sale rejects the ABS Challenge: “I am not an umpire”, trusts his pitching and catchers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chris Sale and His Firm Stance Against the ABS Challenge System<\/h2>\n\n\nStar pitcher Chris Sale has expressed his firm rejection of the use of the ABS Challenge System in Major League Baseball. The veteran, with an outstanding career that includes nine All-Star Game selections and the Cy Young award, has made it clear that he will not use this system under any circumstances.\n\n\n

I am not an umpire. That is their job. I am a starting pitcher. I have never called balls and strikes in my life<\/p>Chris Sale<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nSale argues that his decision is based on his own competitive mentality. “I’m greedy, I know. I think they’re all strikes. I like those pitches on the corner, even if they’re a little outside,” the lefty commented.\n\nThe pitcher also valued the work of his catchers on the Atlanta Braves, highlighting the ability of Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin for “framing”, a technique that can influence umpire decisions.\n\nFurthermore, Sale expressed his concern about losing a challenge and leaving his team without the possibility of review at crucial moments in the game.\n\nThe implementation of the ABS Challenge System is planned for the 2026 season, and Sale’s stance is clear: he will rely on his repertoire and the umpires’ judgment.\n\n\n

Teams that strengthened the most towards 2026<\/h2>\n\n\nWith the 2026 season getting closer and free agency practically closed, the analysis of projections indicates that several clubs took important steps compared to the start of the campaign break.\n\n\n
  • Los Angeles Dodgers<\/li>
  • Philadelphia Phillies<\/li>
  • Boston Red Sox<\/li>
  • Baltimore Orioles<\/li>
  • Toronto Blue Jays<\/li>
  • Detroit Tigers<\/li>
  • Chicago Cubs<\/li>
  • San Francisco Giants<\/li>
  • Colorado Rockies<\/li>
  • New York Mets<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\nThe criteria used is not based on which team is best in absolute terms, but on how much their projection improved compared to the start of the winter market. This includes both new acquisitions and the retention of key figures.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Chris Sale and His Firm Stance Against the ABS Challenge System Star pitcher Chris Sale has expressed his firm rejection of the use of the ABS Challenge System in Major League Baseball. The veteran, with an outstanding career that includes nine All-Star Game selections and the Cy Young award, has made it clear that he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[997],"tags":[9403,1122,1784,3068],"class_list":{"0":"post-108437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nationals","8":"tag-abs","9":"tag-chris-sale","10":"tag-launcher","11":"tag-major-leagues"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}