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Red Sox ‘haven’t been as good at it as we need to be,’ so extra work done on ABS challenges

BOSTON — In addition to the usual batting practice and fielding drills, the Red Sox spent some additional pre-game time Tuesday on refining their ABS challenges.

With interim manager Chad Tracy serving as a makeshift umpire behind the plate, the Red Sox rotated all three of their catchers and another three or so hitters at the plate, in an effort to refine their approach to ball-and-strike challenges.

According to Baseball Savant, Sox hitters have been among the least successful teams on a percentage basis, getting just 38 percent of their calls right when it comes to overturning challenges, with only Cleveland and Atlanta ranked below them.

On the defensive side, the Red Sox haven’t been much better, ranked 24th among all MLB teams with a success rate — mostly initiated by catchers — at just 51 percent.

“We just haven’t been as good at it as we need to be,” said Tracy. “We put some steps into place before we left on the road trip and saw some good results in the couple games in Cleveland, especially the last day. But broadly, sometimes we don’t challenge enough and maybe we hold too many, just waiting for big moments, when there’s a lot of egregious calls prior to that we know...it’s not a strike.

“So we got together as a group and asked, ‘What are some things that we can do?’ to help guys convert what looks like confidence and encourages them to (challenge). You can steal three or four strikes before you ‘waste’ one, if you will. If we can grab two or three strikes before we actually lose one, that’s a good thing.”

The team has plenty of data to draw upon, and can let individual hitters know where strikes are being called for each — rightly and wrongly.

“We have a pretty good idea where each guy on our team gets balls called strikes and for a lot of guys, there are similarities,” said Tracy. “For this guy, it’s seems to be on the outer rail; for this guy, it seems to be below the zone. So making them aware of where you usually get strikes called on you specifically that you’re hesitant to (challenge). And if we can put some confidence around that, maybe we can get some calls overturned.”

Timing is essential, as the Cleveland Guardians found out Sunday. When they were out of challenges on a pitch called a ball to Wilyer Abreu that looked like a strike, it opened the door for a big inning which benefited the Red Sox.

“If you have one left, maybe you can prevent that,” said Tracy. “It’s finding a balance between (preserving them) and not giving away five strikes earlier in the game just because it’s not bases loaded.”