Chris Sale of theAtlanta Bravessaid he will do his job when it comes to being a starting pitcher and will allow umpires to do their jobs when it comes to calling balls in strikes with the theAutomated Ball Strike Challenge Systembeing instituted in MLB this season.
Every team will have two challenges to begin each game. Only batters, catchers and pitchers will be allowed to challenge ball or strike calls and they must signal their intent by tapping their heads immediately after the pitch to initiate the challenge.
The 36-year-old Sale has thrown over 30,000 pitches in his 15-year career with the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. What he won't do for the remainder of his time on the mound is challenge any called ball he believes is a strike.
"I will never challenge a pitch. I will never do it. I won't do it,"Sale told reporters on Friday. "I'm not an umpire. That's their job. I'm a starting pitcher. I've never called balls and strikes in my life. Plus, I'm greedy, and I know that. I think they're all strikes."
Sale added that catchers, like teammates Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin, are so good at framing pitches that a lot more pitches appear to be strikes than they used to, especially ones on the corner of the plate. The nine-time All-Star and 2024 pitching Triple Crown and Cy Young Award winner said he'll trust the umpire's call so as to not risk a challenge that could be used later in the game during an important at-bat.
"I've dealt with it before, across all games in my entire career there's been balls called strikes and strikes called balls and you just deal with it," Sale said.
If Murphy or Baldwin disagree, however, that's a different story.
"If my catcher has something to say about it, I'll leave that to him," Sale said. I've dealt with both sides and I'm fine to keep dealing with it."
