J.T. Realmuto aces first 2 ABS challenges

One of the more interesting storylines to follow the rest of the spring, and then again next season, assuming implementation, is which Phillies will have Rob Thomson’s blessing to contest balls and strikes via the ABS challenge system. Maybe it’s all situation-dependent — or maybe, say, Kyle Schwarber has a privilege that, say, Trea Turner doesn’t.

That won’t matter for a while. For now, it’s about experimentation. Twice on Wednesday, that’s what J.T. Realmuto did against the Blue Jays, and twice, he was successful.

Realmuto levied both challenges as a catcher, not as a hitter. One came in the second inning with Joe Ross pitching, the other in the fourth with Seth Johnson. Both pitches were on the black, but the former wasn’t very close to missing the zone; the latter was.

Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about Realmuto first using the challenge system on Wednesday, adding that Realmuto said he wished he’d called for at least three more challenges: two behind the plate, one while at bat. If you take him at his word, he would’ve been right on the two while catching, wrong on the one hitting.

The ABS system is getting a trial run this spring and won’t be implemented in the regular season until 2026 at the earliest. There’ll be some adjustments — for instance, an overturned call on a pitch that wildly missed its spot and required the catcher to stab at the ball yet still found the zone might ruffle some hitters’ feathers, but that’s more due to precedent than anything. The ABS system could be a perfect way to maintain the human element of umpiring, if that’s something you care about, while getting the most important calls (or the most egregious errors) right.

It’s still in its early stages, so its future is hard to know. But so far, through about a week, the product has seemed overwhelmingly beneficial. Including for Realmuto.