CRAIG’S COMMENTS: Discussing Automated Ball-Strike System and C Ethan Salas
On Wednesday, Padres manager Craig Stammen took the Padres into Peoria Stadium to get in a practice with the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike) system:
“It went well,” said Stammen. “It was fun. There was a lot of competitiveness, a lot of banter going on. There were no fans, so the players were more willing to speak up and get on each other a little bit. However, I don’t think they had the ABS calibrated correctly. There were a few pitches that didn’t seem very high that looked three or four feet above the zone. I just don’t think they had our measurements yet.
“It wasn’t perfect, but we got the feeling of having an umpire back there and tapping your head to challenge. I think last year was about having fun with ABS. This year is a little bit more. You have to come out with our best strategy. I want those guys to use at least their first challenge not with two out and nobody on but save it for a key situation. When we have our regulars playing, we want them to use it.
“During the season, challenges will be a give-and-take. But I think we’ll try to be strategic with the situation. But I think the umpires are really good. They don’t miss that many calls. And if they do, they’re right on the edge … borderline for everybody. There are very few egregious misses.
Get FriarWire’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
“So, we have to be smart about how we use the challenges. We have to be smart when we use them. Those will be strategies we come up with as we go through spring training. We’ll need to see who is good at it and who is not good at it. That will be part of it. There should be some revoking of people’s challenge opportunities.
“Pitchers are very trustworthy. However, they’re highly emotional while pitching. And they’re also the farthest away from the strike zone. So, as much as they think they have a clear view, they’re doing whatever they can do mechanically to throw 95 miles and hour. And they still think they can pinpoint where that fastball or curveball ends up.
“Me personally, complaining about an umpire internally about missing a call … I’d go back and look at it after the game and it was about 95 percent of the time that I was wrong. So. Just knowing that personally — the pitchers will have limited opportunities to challenge.”
Stammen then discussed catching prospect Ethan Salas, who missed most of last season with a lower back issue:
“At the moment, he’s full go,” said Stammen. “He’s probably not going to get as much playing time as Freddy (Fermin), (Luis) Campusano, (Rodolfo) Duran and (Blake) Hunt. But he’ll get in there and get some action. It will be the first time in a while for him. I know he’s excited about it.
“We’re probably not going to catch him nine innings the first time he gets out there. We’ll ease him into action just like we do everybody else. And we’ll get him ready for the season. There is no better educator than experience. And the more innings he can catch, the more at-bats that he can have, the more he experiences the more it will prepare him for his eventual time in the big leagues.”
