WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It all happened so fast. Most everyone at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie probably didn’t even notice when Drew Millas tapped the top of his catcher’s mask after plate umpire Mark Stewart called a first-pitch curveball from Cole Henry to Jesus Baez low for ball one in the bottom of the second inning of Friday’s “Spring Breakout” prospects game between the Nationals and Mets.
Stewart, though, immediately let the crowd know what was happening, announcing over his microphone that Millas had challenged the call, which would now be reviewed by the Automated Balls and Strikes system.
And lo and behold, there on the scoreboard for everyone in the stadium to see, was a graphic showing the actual location of the pitch, which was indeed in the zone at the knees. Stewart announced the call was reversed, the count switched from 1-0 to 0-1 and play resumed.
The whole process took a handful of seconds from start to finish.
“I just saw the pitch was there,” Millas said, “and tapped my head.”
