SF Giants catcher Patrick Bailey is going to give umpires nightmares this season

MLB has instituted the new ABS challenge system this season. Initially, there were fears that this new system would be bad for catchers who are great pitch-framers but SF Giants catcher Patrick Bailey already is proving that may not be the case in spring training.

Bailey has been challenging pitches behind the plate in spring training and his success rate has been quite good so far as he has been right five out of seven times in Cactus League play when challenging a ball behind the plate. He may be a nightmare for umpires if he is constantly exposing them and correcting their missed calls this season.

A few games ago in a Logan Webb start, Bailey challenged a pitch that was meant to be on the inside corner of the plate but Webb yanked it a bit and the umpire called it a ball away. Bailey challenged it because he felt it still clipped the zone even though he was set up inside and he was right. He is still stealing strikes even with this new system.

Patrick Bailey already proving that he can take advantage of new ABS system

Bailey has said that he thinks this new system could potentially boost his value behind the plate, a view that Giants general manager Zack Minasian shared ahead of spring training.

Framing is still going to be an important part of the game, though. Each team only has two challenges so maybe the opponent will have burned both challenges by the ninth inning and Bailey is able to frame a pitch perfectly to get the call. Similarly, early in games teams may be reluctant to burn a challenge so Bailey can still steal some strikes then too.

The system is a good compromise because it does not remove umpires entirely which would be bad for the game. It also keeps pitch framing as an important part of the game and allows catchers to take advantage of that skill.

It is going to be fascinating to see how the system plays out over the course of the regular season. While Bailey is probably experimenting more now in games that do not count, expect him to be a bit more judicious with challenges once games start to matter. He may save them for late in games just because of how valuable they are.

Great catchers like Bailey are not going to be harmed by this new system. Instead, they will adapt and use it to their advantage so do not be shocked if Bailey becomes even more valuable behind the dish in 2026.