Lourdes Gurriel Jr. -- General News

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Arizona Diamondbacks made an ill-advised ABS Challenge on Saturday against New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes. Facing a 1-2 count in the second inning, Gurriel was deceived by an 82 MPH sweeping slider and instinctively turned away from the pitch, turning his head in the process. Despite not even seeing where the pitch landed, Gurriel chose to challenge the call. The pitch was clearly inside the strike zone by nearly a full baseball's width, and the challenge was quickly confirmed, resulting in a looking strikeout.

The incident highlighted the Arizona Diamondbacks' notably conservative approach to ABS Challenges. Coming into Saturday, the team held a 69% success rate when challenging pitches defensively, with 25 successful challenges out of 36 attempts—tied for ninth-fewest in Major League Baseball. At the plate, the situation was similar: D-backs hitters had challenged only 27 calls with a 48% success rate (13 successful challenges), ranking third-fewest in baseball.

Despite the unfortunate challenge, Gurriel has shown encouraging offensive signs recently. Though his season batting average stood at .235/.316/.275, he had hit safely in 7 of his last 9 games and recorded four multi-hit performances. Still recovering from a torn ACL, Gurriel's gradual return to full strength has included improved plate discipline, including three walks in a May 5 game.