Major League Baseball announced Tuesday the league will implement the ABS challenge system for the 2026 season. The automated ball strike challenge system will have several rules, according to MLB. Each team will get two challenges and keep them if they are successful.
The system uses state-of-the-art technology to determine how a throw at the plate should be called.
“The ABS Challenge System powered by T-Mobile 5G network uses cameras set up around the perimeter of the field to track the location of each pitch and a graphic on the scoreboard shows the result of the challenge,” MLB posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Challenges can only be initiated by a pitcher, catcher, or batter, the league said. A manager will not have the ability to challenge. The request must come right after the pitch is thrown. In games that go extra-innings, a challenge will be awarded per inning if a team has run out of them.
Automated challenge system has been discussed for awhile for MLB
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the owners have discussed using an automated system to call balls and strikes. Some owners, players and managers have expressed concerns about going to what they see as robot umpires. The ABS system is seen as a compromise.
“The previous rule changes that have been adopted by the Joint Competition Committee have had staying power and created momentum for the game,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We used the same process with ABS that started with listening to fans, conducting extensive testing at the Minor League level, and trying at every step to make the game better. Throughout this process we have worked on deploying the system in a way that’s acceptable to players. The strong preference from players for the Challenge format over using the technology to call every pitch was a key factor in determining the system we are announcing today.”
Time will tell how effective this new system is.
