Perez wanted another look. He tapped his catching helmet and requested an official replay review. Each time, the ABS system \u2014 used in a regular-season game by the Royals and Braves for the first time \u2014 confirmed Perez\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n
On all three occasions, the overturned calls altered the pitch count in the Royals\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a pretty good idea (of the strike zone),\u201d Perez said. \u201cMaybe side to side is a little hard. Up and down, I have a pretty good idea. I thought it was a strike and I took my chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez challenged a 94 mph fastball thrown by Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans in the fourth inning. The ball crossed the plate at the bottom of the strike zone and Eddings called it a ball. The official review took 5-10 seconds before the call was overturned.<\/p>\n
An inning later, Perez won consecutive challenges with Braves hitters Eli White and Maurcio Dubon at the plate and reliever Bailey Falter on the mound.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the big leagues, it\u2019s about one pitch,\u201d Perez said. \u201cAnything can happen with one pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez was happy with the outcome of his challenges. However, he expressed concern with how the overturned calls would affect his stats as a catcher.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s something he said he would like to take a closer look at.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bad for us because my numbers are gonna look bad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what they call, they aren\u2019t gonna change that (the official decision in the scorebook).<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I was doing a pretty good job with my glove. It was a strike and he called ball. I challenge and they are going to turn it around as a strike. But my numbers are gonna be negative, you know? I don\u2019t know. They should change the pitch and they should change everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez believes catchers shouldn\u2019t be penalized analytically for blown calls they challenge and get overturned. But he\u2019s glad his swift thinking prevented any big innings in Friday\u2019s opener against the Braves. Atlanta won with three big swings that produced home runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely big pitches that he is challenging,\u201d Ragans said of Perez. \u201cObviously, he has been doing this a long time and knows the strike zone pretty well. So yeah, when we do get it overturned like that when we\u2019re on defense, that\u2019s a big swing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ragans took the loss in Friday\u2019s 6-0 shutout<\/a>. He allowed four runs across four innings while walking four batters.<\/p>\n The Royals will continue to lean on Perez behind the plate. The ABS challenge system is being introduced officially across the majors season after being tested at the minor-league level and in spring training.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought Salvy would be good at it,\u201d Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. \u201cLast year, before we were using it for real, he was good at the reviews and the stuff we would do with the IPad and the (strike) zone. Clearly that helped us save some pitches, and that was good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Stories from Kansas City Star<\/p>\n