TEMPE, Ariz. – The latest replay wrinkle – yes, there seems to be one every day – is that infielders might need to change the way they play.
At least, that was Mike Scioscia’s opinion after one of his infielders got dinged by instant replay for a play that used to be allowed.
In the eighth inning of the Angels’ 10-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, Andrew Romine received a throw at second and lost the ball taking it out of his glove. The original ruling was that Romine caught the ball and then took it out of his glove, but after reviewing the replay, umpires ruled that he never had possession.
It was the first time a call was overturned in 21 replay challenges this spring.
Scioscia said plays like that could change how infielders handle that situation.
“Before, it was called really loosely where if you had the ball in your glove and you moved your glove to get it to your bare hand, it was (called an out),” Scioscia said. “That’s going to change the mechanics of how you turn a double play. A lot of guys are really adept at closing their glove and flipping it to their bare hand for a quick transfer. If there’s a bobble on that, it’s going to be called safe.”
Earlier in the game, the replay procedures forced Scioscia to come out to stall. Erick Aybar had been thrown out at first when he rounded the bag too wide, and Scioscia was looking to his coaches while talking to the umpire, waiting to get a signal to tell him whether replay showed it was a play that should be challenged. The replay proved to be inconclusive and Scioscia didn’t use a challenge.
“Every day, we get a little bit more information on things that help, because a lot of these plays, you have to wait till they come up to see how they’re judged before you can start to get a baseline for what’s going to be called,” Scioscia said.
Scioscia and the Angels front office had a meeting earlier in the day in which they got clarification on both the replay procedures and the new rules governing home plate collisions.
It’s become obvious this is a topic of discussion that will continue.
“We’ll be talking more about the (expletive) replay than the game,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said.
NOTES
Josh Hamilton continues to make progress from his strained calf, but he isn’t expected to play in a game until Sunday at the earliest, Scioscia said. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing him play this week,” Scioscia said. “By the weekend, we’ll have a little better idea.”…
Kole Calhoun is out because of a sore right hip, but is expected back in the lineup Wednesday. …
David Freese returned to the lineup after being out because of a blister on the bottom of his right foot. …
The Angels released Mark Mulder, which was a formality since he’s out for the season after rupturing his Achilles’ on the second day of spring as he attempted to return to the majors. The Angels also reassigned catcher Jett Bandy and infielders Kaleb Cowart, Eric Stamets and Alex Yarbrough to minor league camp.
Contact the writer: jlfletcher@ocregister.com
