Max Scherzer complained about the new ABS challenge system early-last week. He just wants his balls and strikes judged by humans. So what did Trea Turner do during his first at bat Sunday? He trolled his former teammate:

If you can make Max Scherzer smile during a game you did maybe the funniest thing the world has ever seen.

Turner told Jayson Stark and Matt Gelb at The Athletic (with ads) that it was a troll put together by himself and Bryson Stott:

“Were you trolling Max?” he was asked.

“Yes, of course I was,” he said.

And when did he decide he was doing this?

“When I was stretching,” Turner replied. “I was hoping the pitch would be right down the middle.”

He then admitted he had co-conspirators in this caper — most prominently his double-play partner, Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott, who said: “You won’t challenge the first pitch of the game.”

“And I said, ‘That’s a great idea,’” Turner said. “Then nobody believed that I was going to do it. So I said, ‘Why not? I don’t care.’”

I love the new challenge system. One, because umpires suck and when you have the technology your entire at bat shouldn’t fizzle because of one bad call. As we saw, it’s a pretty quick system and doesn’t delay the game like replay does. Two, because players using it as gamesmanship to get inside a pitcher’s head is going to be awesome! The more bad blood the better in baseball. It’s going to be a space race to the top this season in the NL East. The Mets, Phillies, and Braves are going to have to scratch and claw to secure a playoff spot. All the cards are on the table. You want to get inside a rookie pitcher’s head? Have the first two guys challenge him when he comes in. Fake the call to the head even. Was he challenging or adjusting his helmet? Who knows! Keep him on his toes. You want to piss off an intense closer so he maybe loses command? Save your challenges and throw him out of his rhythm. The first pitcher to unravel after a challenge is going to be picked on until his career is over in the bigs. Now of course there are people who hate the challenge system. Aaron Boone doesn’t like it because it takes away from the abilities for catchers to frame pitches:

To which I say, that’s why we should have ABS. Catchers have taken advantage of an ump’s shitty eyesight and the advancement of humans to rig the game. It’s not like framing would completely go away either. Teams get two challenges. They keep them as long as they keep winning. Once they lose both they’re done. Then catchers will go back to business as usual. Pitching staffs will just have to adapt to a new strategy like they did when they instituted the three-batter minimum rule, took spider tack out of the game, and lowered the mound in 1968.


It’s even humanizing the umps!

Get this to the bigs immediately. Hopefully they’ll have it in 2026.