Colorado Rockies: How They Fared in First-Half Challenges

The first half of the season was full of challenges for the Colorado Rockies … and we’re not just talking about the kind that make you shake your head when certain members of the bullpen come into the game and don’t perform well.

Major League Baseball recently released the results of its use of expanded instant replay from the first half of the season. Overall, there were 840 reviews before the All-Star break and 404 of those were overturned upon review of instant replay. That means 48.1 percent of the time, the call should’ve gone the other way and instant replay helped ensure that it did.

During the first half, 725 challenges were issued by MLB’s 30 teams, including 29 by the Colorado Rockies. Only five teams (Miami and St. Louis with 34, San Diego with 33, and Boston and Toronto with 30) challenged more calls in the first half of the season than the Rockies.

You knew the Rockies would be fairly high on the list when the first challenge of the year came in the bottom of the fifth inning of the season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In that play, Colorado manager Walt Weiss challenged the call that Chris Owings was safe at first base. Upon further review, the call stood.

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However, that wasn’t an indicator of what was to come. Of the 29 challenges from the Rockies, 16 calls were overturned for a success rate of 55.2 percent. How does that fare against other MLB teams in terms of percentages of reviews that were overturned by challenge? Take a look below…

Minnesota 66.7

Miami 64.7

Kansas City 63.6

New York (AL) 63.2

Oakland 62.5

Cleveland 62.1

Tampa Bay 62.1

Detroit 61.1

Los Angeles (NL) 58.8

St. Louis 58.8

San Francisco 58.3

Los Angeles (AL) 57.1

Philadelphia 56.0

Colorado 55.2

Arizona 52.2

Texas 50.0

Milwaukee 47.8

Baltimore 47.6

New York (NL) 47.1

Cincinnati 46.2

San Diego 45.5

Seattle 44.4

Pittsburgh 44.0

Chicago NL 44.0

Toronto 40.0

Chicago AL 38.9

Washington 37.9

Boston 36.7

Houston 36.4

Atlanta 36.0

Of Colorado’s 29 first-half challenges, seven times the play stood as called (24.1 percent) and six times the call was confirmed (20.7 percent) to go along with the 16 overturns. Washington had the highest challenges stand at 37.9 percent (11 out of 29 challenges) while Boston had the highest number percentage of times the call was confirmed (36.7 percent, 11 out of 30 challenges).

You can read the full set of rules about MLB’s replay system by clicking here.

Next: Why Colorado Must Start the Second Half Hot

Also, in case you’re curious, the average play review in the first half of the season lasted 102 seconds. Luckily, that’s plenty of time for stadiums around the country to play the Jeopardy theme or “Let It Be” from The Beatles.