The start of the 2026 season was already historic for the Minnesota Twins. Whenever a new manager joins the club, it is a new era of hope for the Twins. This season, it is Derek Shelton who is at the helm.
Making an interesting Opening Day lineup, Shelton certainly had himself a memorable opening weekend in Baltimore, as his team went 1-2 to kick off the year. What will be attached to his name forever is that he is the first manager to ever be ejected over Major League Baseball's newly-implented Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) on Sunday.
Following Josh Bell's at-bat with one out in the top of the ninth inning against Ryan Helsley, Shelton was thrown out of the game because he thought the called strike challenge against his hitter was not done in prompt fashion. Put him down in the books forever as the first to be ejected for such reasons. It will be interesting to see if anyone else is ever tossed for the same thing.
Twins' Derek Shelton gets ejected in opening series vs. Orioles over ABS challenge
With a runner on first base, Bell's 3-2 pitch was initially called ball four on an outside slider. Normally, or potentially normally (??), the catcher will immediately challenge the umpire's call of the pitch. Baltimore's Adley Rutschman did no such thing.
It was Helsley who challenged the pitch as Bell was trotted halfway up the first-base line. He tapped his cap, and wound up being correct. Shelton popped out of the dugout screaming.
Ryan Helsley successfully challenged this 3-2 call to strike out Josh Bell in the ninth, but Twins manager Derek Shelton didn't think he did so fast enough pic.twitter.com/9EF7ijmp7B
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 29, 2026
That pitch overturned to strike out Bell made it two outs in the ninth as Minnesota trailed, 8-6. Victor Caratini then reached on an error in the ensuing plate appearance, putting Luke Keaschall on third base. It could have been bases loaded with one out for the Twins, rather than two on and two out for James Outman. Outman ended the game on a fly out to left field, which would have been deep enough for a sacrifice fly RBI. Instead, it ended the game. Minnesota moves on to Kansas City. Derek Shelton moves into the record books.