Baker not enjoying results of replay challenges so far

MIAMI - Dusty Baker wasn't worried the game had changed at all during his two-year hiatus between managerial gigs. Well, except for one new wrinkle: expanded instant replay.

Baker acknowledged that baseball's new challenge system (instituted in 2014 shortly after he was fired by the Reds) would take some getting used to, especially for a man who spent nearly five decades as a big league player, coach or manager without ever having to consider such a tact.

Well, 12 games into his first season with the Nationals, Baker is getting quite a taste of instant replay. And he's not enjoying the results.

The Nationals have been involved in 11 replay reviews already, a staggering seven of them coming in the last two days alone. Their record in those reviews: 3-8 (1-6 over the last 48 hours).

Perhaps not surprisingly, Baker hasn't been converted into a major proponent of replay.

"Well, I don't like it any more than I did before," he said following last night's loss to the Marlins. "It certainly slows the game down, big time. And I thought we were designed to speed up the game. But what I wonder about is: Before the replay system, how many calls were missed?"

Baker left that question hanging, but he clearly isn't a big fan of some of the calls that have been overturned against his team, particularly those on plays that never would have been questioned in the past.

A good example from last night's game: an overturned call involving the "neighborhood play" at second base. When Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez bunted right in front of the plate and Wilson Ramos picked up the ball and fired to second base to get Adeiny Hechavarria, few in the ballpark batted an eyelash. It was the kind of play that for a century had been called without argument.

But Major League Baseball's controversial new rules on takeout slides at second base also made the neighborhood play reviewable for the first time. And after a delay of roughly 1 minute, 50 seconds, officials in New York overturned Jerry Layne's initial call, saying shortstop Danny Espinosa's foot was not on the bag when he caught the ball. That ultimately put Hechavarria in position to score from third on a ground ball.

Most of the replays that have gone against Baker so far haven't been prompted by him. The Nationals have challenged only four calls this season, successfully getting only one of those overturned (Espinosa was ruled safe at first base after initially being called out Friday night in Philadelphia).