San Diego Padres catcher Martin Maldonado looked like a genius Saturday afternoon during a spring training tilt against the Athletics.
In the top of the second inning, A's outfielder Denzel Clarke thought he wisely passed on hacking at a 2-2 cutter to work the count full. So did the home plate umpire, who called the pitch a ball. But Maldonado was not having it.
Maldonado tapped his helmet to activate the ABS challenge system—MLB's new spring training experiment that gives teams at least two opportunities per game to challenge ball and strike calls.
The play went to replay review, and Maldonado was proven right—by maybe a baseball seam or two. The ABS confirmed that the edge of the baseball slightly made contact with the strike zone, sending Clarke back to the dugout with a strikeout.
This ABS challenge 😳
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) February 22, 2025
(via @PitchingNinja)pic.twitter.com/QJdo1SPrWF
It doesn't get much better than that for a veteran catcher.
The 38-year-old Maldonado signed with the Padres on a non-roster deal back in January to give the team some depth in spring training. He's a long shot to make the Opening Day roster, as San Diego features catchers Elias Diaz and Luis Campusano ahead of him on the depth chart.
A former Gold Glove winner, Maldonado is a defensive-minded catcher who batted just .119/.174/.230 with four homers in 48 games for the lowly Chicago White Sox last season. If MLB planned to utilize the ABS challenge system in the regular season—which it isn't, at least for 2025—perhaps it would raise Maldonado's stock a bit behind the plate.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Padres Catcher Martin Maldonado Had the Best Ball-Strike Challenge Yet.
