Ninth inning. Two outs. Bases loaded. 0-2 count. Tying run at the plate. And … hold on a second.
MLB’s new ABS challenge system certainly threw a little wrinkle into the ending of Thursday’s Grapefruit League tilt between the Blue Jays and the Braves at CoolToday Park in Venice, Fla.
With Atlanta leading 9-5 with two outs and the bases full of Blue Jays in the top of the ninth, Braves reliever Luis Vargas tossed a Frisbee slider to Toronto’s Josh Rivera. The 0-2 pitch was ruled just high, but Braves catcher Archer Brookman quickly tapped his helmet to signal for a challenge. Replay review showed Vargas’ pitch caught the top of the strike zone, reversing the call and ending the game on a most unusual backwards K.
It was the third time in Spring Training -- all in the past five days -- in which an ABS challenge was involved in the game’s final pitch, and certainly the most dramatic. On Sunday, the D-backs successfully turned a would-be ball into a game-ending strikeout, although the tying run was on deck in the 9-6 win. And on Monday, the Astros’ attempt to overturn a 3-2 strike call with two outs in the bottom of the ninth was unsuccessful: The call was confirmed to end the game in a 3-3 tie.
Thursday’s ending was a reminder of how the ABS system, which is being implemented in MLB for the first time in 2026, can make things look a little different on the field. Of course, that was the case when the pitch timer was first introduced in Spring Training 2023, leading to another unusual ending with the Braves once again involved.
This early on, the ABS challenge system remains a work in progress for players (see Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. try to mistakenly challege a call in a World Baseball Classic exhibition), and while it's starting to feel more commonplace, there are still moments like Thursday where it provides something we don't often see.