Instant replay call forces Angels to tighten up their double plays

TEMPE, Ariz. — Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick said he will have to be more cognizant of his glove-to-hand transfer on double plays this season after umpires overturned a call involving infielder Andrew Romine in Tuesday’s exhibition game against the Seattle Mariners.

With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning, Romine, playing second base, dropped the ball while trying to turn a double play. The play was initially ruled a force out, but the call was overturned after an instant-replay review, the umpires determining Romine did not have possession of the ball.

“The way I understand it is we’re supposed to have the transfer clearly in the hand,” Kendrick said. “But sometimes on the transfer, you miss the ball. It hits your wrist instead of your palm, and the ball falls out. It happens all the time.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said he still expects umpires to grant some leeway on the “neighborhood” call, which allows middle infielders to be in the vicinity of the second-base bag as opposed to touching it while turning double plays.

“But they’re going to be tighter on the transfer,” Scioscia said. “If that balances out, we’ll see. But the way it was called on Romy yesterday has never been called in 40 years of baseball. … Evidently, they’re going to call that much closer.”