This Is What MLB's Replay System Will Look Like

Expanded replay, approved during the offseason, had its debut today in the Blue Jays-Twins game in Fort Myers. Twice, actually! This is going to be a familiar sight in baseball's future, so we might as well get used to it.

The umpires on the field ruled that the throw had pulled Jared Goedert off the bag, making Chris Rahl safe. Toronto manager John Gibbons came out, calmly challenged the call, and in precisely 2:34, the umpires decided to uphold the safe call.

It was remarkably close—inconclusive, in the NFL review lingo—but let the record show that Gibbons is the first MLB manager to challenge a call, and the first to lose his challenge. Seeing which teams are the worst at challenging plays will be an underrated subplot to the season.

But the replay machinery wasn't done. A bang-bang play in the eighth was reviewed (after the sixth inning, it's in the hands of the umpires) and also upheld.

All in all, it went smoothly, and the two reviews added only about five minutes to the game. (And that's not counting any time saved by heading off manager arguments.) This is the best change MLB has made in years.