MLB is experimenting with an Automated Ball-Strike challenge system in roughly half of the games this spring training, and there have already been a few challenges that aged rather poorly, likely making the player who challenged the call wish they could go back in time and undo the decision.
Such a moment occurred once again on Tuesday during Grapefruit League action between the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals. In the top of the second inning with the count at 1–0, Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer delivered a curveball low in the zone to Cardinals designated hitter JJ Wetherholt. Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk attempted to frame the pitch into the zone so as to entice home-plate umpire Roberto Ortiz to call it a strike, but Ortiz was not fooled.
Scherzer, however, liked what he saw from the pitch frame so much that he decided to challenge the call. The result was, well, not even close
Here's video of the moment, courtesy of Rob Friedman on X.
Alejandro Kirk's framing is so smooth...
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 25, 2025
It fooled Max Scherzer. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/GS23roDLUh
The perils of pitcher challenges. It's hard to blame Scherzer for thinking Kirk had pulled some framing wizardry, as the veteran catcher ranked fourth in MLB in the Statcast metric Catcher Framing Runs, which converts strikes to runs saved and accounts for park and pitcher adjustments, last season.
Given that many big league players are unfamiliar with this system, there are bound to be more amusing moments such as the one Scherzer found himself involved in on Tuesday.
In his first tune-up this spring, the 40-year-old Scherzer pitched two innings, allowing one run while striking out four batters.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Blue Jays Catcher's Frame Fools Max Scherzer Into Challenging Obvious Ball-Strike Call.
