Giants' catcher Patrick Bailey can make MLB history on Opening Day
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San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey could make history on Opening Day against the New York Yankees.
The Giants host the Yankees to begin the MLB regular season on Wednesday night, and Bailey will be in a special spot as the first catcher to be on the field for the 2026 campaign.
While a Yankees hitter could beat him to the punch, Bailey has a legitimate chance to be the first player to challenge a ball-strike call in the regular season in MLB history.
The ABS challenge system (automated ball strike) is in place for the 2026 season for the first time. It allows a catcher, pitcher or batter to challenge a pitch after the umpire has made his call.
A team only gets a couple challenges per game, although they keep them if they correctly get a call overturned.
"Everyone will be waiting to see who makes that historic first challenge," MLB.com's David Adler wrote in a new article before the first game. "Will it be one of the two catchers, Patrick Bailey or Austin Wells? They're the most obvious candidates. Catchers get way more opportunities to challenge than batters, and are way more likely to challenge -- and challenge successfully -- than pitchers. Bailey will have the first crack in the top of the first, receiving pitches from Logan Webb."
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The expectation is that most challenges will be saved for high leverage spots. So if an 0-1 pitch in the first inning is called incorrectly, it doesn't necessarily mean it will draw a challenge.
It also depends on how on-point the umpire is. If there are no calls that feel missed, then there won't be any challenges.
Giants starter Logan Webb does have a lot of movement on his fastball, which could create some added deception.
Bailey is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, so it seems like he could be good at challenges. We'll see if he's the first one to tap the top of his head to initiate a review.
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