New Phillies reliever makes obscure team history with first ABS challenge

PHILADELPHIA — When right-hander Zach Pop tapped the top of his red Phillies hat in the eighth inning on Thursday’s Opening Day, he added himself into the franchise history books — even if such an obscure factoid might only appear in fine print.

Pop became the first Phillies player to challenge a pitch under the newly implemented automated ball-strike system when he signaled for a review after home-plate umpire James Hoye called his two-out, full-count sinker to Brandon Nimmo a ball. The pitch was deemed to have missed the inside edge by 0.1 inches, allowing the call on the field to stand and keeping Nimmo at first base with a walk.

“I thought it was a good pitch,” Pop said after Philadelphia’s 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park. “That’s why I challenged it. It’s unfortunate it wasn’t there. I was out there trying to get some outs and throw good pitches.”

Replay reviews have been used in Major League Baseball in some capacity since 2008, with an expanded challenge system debuting in 2014. But the ABS challenge system for balls and strikes has come to the big leagues for the first time this season.

Each team starts the game with two available challenges that can be made on a pitch by the batter, pitcher or catcher. Players cannot solicit help about a potential challenge from the dugout. If a club correctly challenges a call, it will then retain that challenge; any unsuccessful challenge is lost. An extra challenge is given to a team in extra innings if it has exhausted all of its available challenges.

Teams will surely develop a strategy for how they want their players to use their ABS challenges. Multiple Phillies pitchers indicated during the spring that they thought it would be wise to defer to their catchers on challenges, and veteran backstop J.T. Realmuto was effective in his ABS decisions in the Grapefruit League. But with a five-run lead in the top of the eighth, Pop was the one who called for a challenge to try to end the half inning.

“I was good with it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It was a tenth of an inch off. That pitch decided an at-bat late in the game. We’ve got the lead. That’s where, on the defensive side, you want to use that challenge.”

While the call did not go in Pop’s favor, the failed challenge did not hurt his outing. He recorded an out against the next better he faced to complete a scoreless inning. It came after a solid spring in which the 29-year-old had a 3.86 ERA in nine appearances. He walked just two batters and struck out nine, throwing the strikes necessary to earn a spot in the bullpen to begin the regular season.

A six-year veteran now with his fifth different team, Pop enjoyed his first chance to play in Philadelphia, making just a bit of Phillies history along the way.

“It was a really cool experience,” Pop said of Opening Day. “A lot going on: first day, coming through the stadium with the fans and everything. So that was pretty cool.”