New Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona plans to opt out of elective participation in the automated ball-strike challenge trial during spring training, but he is still willing to let the organization’s minor league players get accustomed to the system
ABS is a system that is being tried out at 13 ballparks in spring training, and it allows pitchers, hitters and catchers an immediate objection to a ball-strike call. It has been used in minor league parks in the past, and MLB is not fully adopting the system. Teams are allowed two challenges a game, and they must come from on-field players and not a manager. Francona and the Reds’ starters are apparently not going to utilize the system.
“I’m OK with seeing our younger kids do it because they’ve done it,” Terry Francona said, via Field Level Media. “It’s not a strategy for [the MLB teams], so why work on it? I don’t want to make a farce of anything, but we’re here getting ready for a season and that’s not helping us get ready.”
ABS has been used at various points so far in spring training, with the first being in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Chicago Cubs.
Francona is returning to MLB with the Reds after a year off in 2024. He retired as manager of the Cleveland Guardians at the end of the 2023 season, with health being cited as a reason. The Reds will be his fourth team that he has managed. He spent four years with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997-2000. He was with the Boston Red Sox from 2004-2011, winning World Series championships in 2004 and 2007. Then, he was withh the Guardians from 2013-2023, winning the American League pennant in 2016.
The Reds are hoping that Francona can help lead this young Reds team back to contention, as the roster has a lot of young talent, but it has not manifested in playoff baseball as of yet.
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