Following Ryu Hyun-jin, Hwang Jae-gyun is also dissatisfied… ABS judgment, is there really no problem?

Following Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles), Hwang Jae-gyun (KT Wiz) also expressed dissatisfaction with the ABS (Automatic Pitching Assessment System).

Jae-gyun Hwang was ejected after striking out in the top of the 4th inning of an away game against SSG Landers in the 2024 KBO League held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 26th.

The situation was like this.

Hwang Jae-gyun, who was cornered with 1 ball and 2 strikes against SSG starter Oh Won-seok, struck out standing on the 4th pitch with a low fastball.

However, in the process of catching the ball, SSG catcher Lee Ji-young, who was sitting on the outside, missed the ball when Oh Won-seok’s fastball came toward his body, and first base runner Moon Sang-cheol took advantage of this and ran to second base.

However, the decision through ABS was a strike, and Hwang Jae-gyun struck out, ending KT’s inning.

Then Hwang Jae-gyun became furious. Immediately after the referee declared a strikeout, he threw his helmet and showed his dissatisfaction. In the end, referee Lee Gye-seong ordered Hwang Jae-gyun to leave immediately.

Hwang Jae-gyun is the first player to be ejected while protesting a ball decision since the introduction of ABS this season.

The fact that a ball missed by the catcher was ruled a strike was possible because of the ABS decision. However, it is also a scene that was rarely seen before the introduction of ABS. It appears that Hwang Jae-gyun also found it difficult to understand this.

The problem is that the number of players who are dissatisfied with ABS decisions is increasing.

Ahead of the match between KT and Hanwha Eagles the previous day, Hanwha’s ace Ryu Hyun-jin expressed strong dissatisfaction with the ABS decision. The matter seemed serious because it was a complaint from Ryu Hyun-jin, who has a strong command of the ball.

Accordingly, the KBO unusually disclosed pitch tracking data.

On the 26th, the KBO Secretariat provided ABS operator Sports2I’s pitch tracking judgment data to the media and shared data on the trajectory of balls thrown by Moon Dong-ju and Ryu Hyun-jin to KT Wiz batters on the 23rd and 24th.

The KBO secretariat explained that the third ball thrown by Jo Yong-ho at the plate in the bottom of the third inning, which Ryu Hyun-jin expressed dissatisfaction with, “passed the bottom of the ABS middle zone by 0.15 cm, but failed to pass the bottom of the ABS end zone by 0.78 cm, so it was ruled a ball.” did.

The KBO’s position is that there are no problems with the ABS system at all, but complaints are constantly being raised on the field by not only players but also coaches, so controversy is expected to continue in the future.

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