Pirates' Bubba Chandler managed to get lucky on accidental ABS challenge
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Pirates' Bubba Chandler managed to get lucky on accidental ABS challenge originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Before this season, this wasn't even a possibility.
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But on Sunday, Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler accidentally challenged a ball call.
And then he got his challenge right. The pitch was overturned for a strike.
The Pirates were taking on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, and Chandler threw a pitch that was determined to have just missed.
As the ball was thrown back to Chandler, he used his right hand to adjust his hat on his head.
The umpire saw it and recognized it to be the double tap that signals an ABS challenge.
So it went to review as Chandler threw his arms in the air as if to say, wait, that wasn't the gesture.
He wasn't as mad moments later when the pitch proved to have been in the strike zone:
Well... this is a new one! 🫨
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 12, 2026
Bubba accidentally challenged a pitch by adjusting his cap, but he ended up winning it 🤣 🧢 pic.twitter.com/xM3mTUyqvO
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Chandler probably won't make a habit of this, but the stats will show he got this challenge right.
Teams are mostly stopping their pitchers from challenging and leaving it to the catchers, who have a much better view and aren't quite as emotionally tied to each pitch.
Maybe pitchers that want to challenge should go with the "accidental," hat-adjustment challenge to sneak it through.