The Braves’ 5-4 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday again demonstrated MLB’s oft-questioned replay system.
In the fifth inning, first baseman Freddie Freeman was rounding third to potentially score the game-tying run. Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez received the relay throw and applied the tag. The close play was ruled an out, ending the inning.
The Braves challenged the play. Replays on the stadium board and television seemed to indicate Freeman was safe, but the call was upheld. The Braves ultimately lost by a run after their ninth-inning rally came up short.
“I thought he was safe,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I thought he beat the throw.”
It isn’t the first time the team has been frustrated by replay. It lost a much-publicized game to the Phillies in April when third baseman Alec Bohm was ruled safe at home on a play he appeared to be out. His run won it for Philadelphia.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies voiced his discontent after the latest game, saying it was “clear” Freeman was safe. Starter Charlie Morton, a 14-year veteran, wants to see change with MLB’s replay system, expressing a common sentiment that the on-field call influences the final verdict.
“I don’t know how many years we’ve been doing replay now that that happens,” Morton said. “It happens where you see something on the board, and you see the replay on TV and you think you see something that someone else didn’t see. I really think the guys on the field are trying to do the best job they can, balls and strikes, out or safe. I don’t question that one bit.
“The one thing I do wonder about: why the initial call bears any weight. For it to go to the challenge, obviously someone on our side watched the replay and thought it was sufficient enough to challenge it in the first place. It’s hard. I don’t care how good of an umpire you are. It’s hard to do things at that speed on the field. It goes to replay, and it seems like whatever call was on the field, it carries a little too much weight.
“It seems like if you have all these tools at your disposal, the cameras, replay. It seems like we probably have the tools at this point to recognize these close plays should go to somebody that’s impartial and has the tools at their disposal to slow down and really look at something without knowing what the call on the field was. That’s really the only problem right now with the replay. I really think the call on the field, it means a little too much.”
