Carlos Mendoza’s ejection goes old-school, twice, after the Mets run out of ABS challenges

CINCINNATI. Carlos Mendoza managed to find the quickest route to the parking lot. In a tense stretch against the Cincinnati Reds, the Mets manager was ejected for arguing with umpire Carlos Torres, and he was then ejected again after returning to the scene and continuing to contest the calls.

The sequence carried an extra layer of baseball’s latest rules twist. According to MLB’s game reporting, Mendoza’s arguments were linked to the automated ball-strike system (ABS), and the game had already exhausted the team’s ability to challenge the relevant calls through that mechanism. Once a club has no ABS challenges left, the pathway for replay through that specific process closes, and disputes shift from the “review what you saw” lane to the “the decision is final” lane.

Torres communicated the decision directly to Mendoza in the moment, standing as Mendoza gesticulated and insisted on his point. MLB’s account describes Mendoza wagging his finger, yelling, and continuing the exchange before being told a second time that he was no longer welcome on the field of play.

The double ejection is the kind of event that stands out because managers rarely have to answer to an umpiring crew twice in the same heated minute. It suggests Mendoza either did not accept the ruling as final or believed there was still something to be corrected procedurally. MLB’s report is explicit that the ejection occurred twice, not just once and then followed by a routine walk to the clubhouse.

ABS has altered how baseball handles certain borderline strike and ball calls, but it has not eliminated conflict. Instead, it has changed the timeline. Where a manager might once have had a broader menu of ways to press for a different outcome, now the leverage is time-limited and tied to remaining challenges. Once Mendoza’s options were gone, his only remaining avenue was continued argument to the plate umpire and crew, which is an avenue that has long had consequences.

For the Mets, the practical impact is immediate even without dramatizing the scoreboard. An ejection removes a manager’s ability to set the tone in the dugout, manage bullpen usage, and communicate in high-leverage situations. It also places additional pressure on assistants to handle the on-field adjustments while the manager is in the penalty box or otherwise removed from the action.

For baseball fans, the bigger theme is what this moment says about the balance between technology and tradition. ABS can assist umpires, but it still requires humans to decide when the system has been applied correctly and when the dispute has crossed the line from questioning into refusal. Mendoza’s two-part exit underscores that once the ABS challenge window closes, the game stops being negotiable. The decision comes from the umpire in front of you, not from the machine behind the plate.

What to watch next is how teams respond to “no challenges left” situations, especially with managers who are known for intensity. If Mendoza’s approach remains aggressive after the last ABS challenge is spent, similar confrontations could continue to appear. If it moderates, the episode may serve as a cautionary tale about when to switch from argument to adaptation.