WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Baseball’s automated ball-strike technology experienced an unusual malfunction during Saturday night’s matchup between the Athletics and New York Yankees.
During the fourth inning, a pitch thrown to Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers was incorrectly validated as a strike, despite video evidence revealing the ball missed the strike zone by nearly an inch.
The controversial moment occurred in the fourth inning of the Athletics’ 6-4 victory when Ryan Weathers delivered a 2-0 pitch that was ruled a strike. Langeliers promptly disputed the decision, believing the ball was thrown too low.
Following a brief pause, home plate umpire Adam Beck declared the pitch was upheld as a strike, causing the Athletics to forfeit their challenge. However, video replay on MLB.com demonstrated the pitch was 0.8 inches below the strike zone and should have been ruled a ball. The error ultimately had minimal impact since Langeliers later earned a walk, though the team did sacrifice one challenge opportunity.
“The explanation on the field was the umpires were told from the communication upstairs, the controller of the ABS, that the call was confirmed,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said after the game.
Kotsay explained that the Athletics reviewed the replay on their dugout iPad at the inning’s conclusion, following standard procedure, and confirmed the pitch should have been called a ball. Kotsay approached the umpires between innings attempting to recover the lost challenge but was unsuccessful.
“Obviously, they don’t have access to the iPad,” Kotsay said. “They only have access to the information they’re being told through their ear piece. That’s something we need clarified through the league and we will have that conversation with the league.”
