Twins hitters get fired up as they practice challenging ball and strike calls

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Harrison Bader watched a called third strike during a live batting practice session at Hammond Stadium on Thursday, and the group of hitters behind him started hollering at him.

“Challenge it! Challenge it!” the hitters urged.

Bader tapped the top of his helmet and waited for the animation to confirm the result on the scoreboard: It was called a strike incorrectly by faux umpire Michael Cuddyer. A strikeout flipped back into a full count.

On the next pitch, Bader bashed a cutter from Twins nonroster invitee Erasmo Ramírez over the left-field fence for a home run.

Congratulations to the automatic balls and strikes (ABS) challenge system on its newest fan club.

The group of hitters behind Bader threw their arms up and cheered wildly. The Twins tested the new challenge system in their workout Thursday, with an MLB data operations official in the stands, before it will be implemented in spring training games.

“You don’t want to give no free strikes to anyone,” Carlos Correa said. “It’s a good system.”

Nineteen of the 30 teams have spring training ballparks equipped with the technology to use the ABS system, and teams will be allotted two incorrect challenges per game. The Twins aren’t overly focused on the strategies behind the challenges because it won’t be used in regular-season games this year — MLB just wants feedback from its spring training games — but it was the first time many veteran big leaguers were introduced to it after it was used in the minors over the past few years.

“You give a major leaguer another opportunity, another pitch, anything can happen,” Bader said. “It works for both sides. I think the hitters will benefit a little bit more, but at the same time, if a pitch was called a ball and it clipped the zone, it’s there. I just think it’s great, I really do.”

With no repercussions for a failed challenge Thursday, it turned into the group of hitters standing around protesting any borderline pitches in an entertaining way. “I love this,” one player yelled out after a successful challenge. Former MLB umpire Ángel Hernández was brought up by someone in the dugout.

When a catcher had a successful challenge, the hitters groaned, the lone applause coming from bullpen coach Colby Suggs.

“With our guys, it was a hit,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli deadpanned. “Honestly, I think it got them fired up. They’re competitive. You could sense the enthusiasm as they got a chance to play around with it and have some fun with each other on the field.”

As much as the hitters enjoyed taking a strike from a pitcher — Correa danced in the batter’s box after his first successful challenge — Byron Buxton knows there is another side of the challenge system looming that he won’t enjoy.

“It’s different when you do it, you’re wrong and you lose something,” Buxton said. “That changes the whole game if we got two wrong. Now, we don’t get to [challenge] the rest of the game. How does that affect us? We know that’s a ball, the umpire called it a strike, but we don’t have no challenges. Now what? Mentally, if we let that get to us, how are we going to be able to handle that when it happens?

“It’s just the game changing. Another adjustment you have to make.”

At the end of a workout earlier this week, a lot of names were written on Royce Lewis’ cap: Addison. Sam. Jackson. Aidan. Several others.

Who are they?

“I have all these kids sign it,” said Lewis, noting they were children who attended the workout. “They ask me to sign, and I make them sign.”

ESPN confirmed Thursday it was opting out of its national TV deal with Major League Baseball after the 2025 season. Beyond this year, there were three seasons remaining on the contract that netted the league $550 million annually.

“We remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025,” ESPN said in a statement.

ESPN holds exclusive rights to “Sunday Night Baseball,” the Home Run Derby and postseason games in the wild-card round.

MLB, in a statement, said it was disappointed ESPN scaled back its baseball coverage and “ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable.”

The league said there is “significant interest from both traditional media companies and streaming services who would like to obtain rights to MLB games.”