Finally, a way to overturn the worst of the worst calls.
We’ve talked about the topic of a ball-and-strike challenge system here many times. It’s being used in the minor leagues this year, has been tested over quite a few seasons in various minor leagues, and was used in about 60 percent of Spring Training games this year.
Now, per Evan Drellich at The Athletic, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is going to propose that the ABS challenge system be implemented in the major leagues in 2026:
Barring a change of heart inside Manfred’s group, ABS appears likely to arrive in the big leagues next year. The league office has enough votes on the 11-person committee — which is also made up of player representatives and one umpire — to push through what it wants.
Human umpires would still make the vast majority of ball-strike calls, but teams would start each game with two challenges to the umpire’s opinion. Umpires would then rely on a technology system that the league has tested for years in the minor leagues and in major-league spring training this year. Teams retain the challenge if they get the call overturned.
The way this system will work: There’s no having the manager hold up his hand while the video crews check to see whether a challenge is worth it, as is now done for replay reviews. For the ABS system, the challenge has to be made immediately by either the batter, pitcher or catcher. Then the pitch is reviewed and a call is either confirmed or overturned. In practice this takes only a few seconds.
Here’s how it worked in Spring Training [VIDEO].
That’s the very first time it was used in any sort of MLB game, the first Cubs/Dodgers game of the spring. A pitch from Cody Poteet — remember him? — was called a ball. Poteet touched his cap as the signal he wanted it challenged, and the call wound up changed. The whole sequence didn’t take more than about 15 seconds.
I am very happy to hear this news. As noted, if you are correct in your challenge, you retain it, so teams could wind up with more than two per game. In practice, players would save these for the most egregious bad calls (thanks Jim Deshaies for that word!) or in important situations late in games.
I welcome our ball-and-strike robot overlords, even if it has to wait until Opening Day 2026.