Major League Baseball has been conducting a lot of experiments recently. The rules change has been hit in the left and right scenes. The challenges have not been introduced to this sport until very recently. Since then, it has been a slippery slope with pitch clocks, shift vans, ghost runners, universal DHS, and mound visit restrictions. game.
MLB’s latest venture appears to be removing more human elements from the game with a test run of the Automatic Ball and Strike (ABS) Challenge System that took place during spring 2025 training. With the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles starting spring training on Thursday, we’ve already been the first to see how the system works.
How many challenges do each team acquire? Who can seek the ABS challenge? Will this soon become a factor in the regular season?
Here’s everything you need to know about MLB’s ABS system for spring training.
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How does an ABS system work?
Each team is given two challenges to use whenever they want throughout the game. If a team wins a challenge, they will not lose the challenge. This means they have two challenges to use at any time. However, if you fail the task, you lose the task.
The assignment must be called immediately after the pitch by either the pitcher, catcher, or plate batter, with the head tapped. No one else can seek a challenge. If the game becomes an additional inning, the team will not be awarded any additional assignments.
Wouldn’t these challenges slow the game?
Not that much.
Through limited testing at Triple-A a year ago, it took about 17 seconds for each challenge to complete, with referee calls overturned by 51% of the time. Even if each team uses four challenges throughout the contest, they only add a few 2 minutes to each game.
Where will this system be implemented?
Not all spring training ballparks have access to the new ABS system. In the Cactus League, the ABS Challenge Systems include Camelback Ranch (Dodgers and White Sox), Surprise Stadium (Rangers and Royals), Peoria Sports Complex (Mariners and Padres), and Goodyear Ball Park (Surprise Stadium (Rangers and Royals). Available only at five dual-team stadiums: Red and Parents), and Salt River Field (Diamondbacks and Rocky).
Grapefruitreug is available at George M. Stein Brenner Field (Yankees), Clover Park (Mets), Bay Care Ballpark (Philies), TD Ballpark (Blue Jays), Recom Park (Pirates), and several solo team parks. Masu. Publix Field (Tigers), Hammond Stadium (Twins), and Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium (Marlins and Cardinals).
Will this be implemented during the regular season?
2025 regular season? no. However, if the system was highly praised by players and went smoothly, the creep could be made to appear in the MLB regular season a few years later. The challenge system is already in use in Triple A this year, and some people close to MLB believe it can be implemented at the major league level in 2026.
How does that affect the game?
For now, there are only two challenges per team, so it should not have much impact on the game. Players need to learn quickly to save suspicious phone challenges in high leverage moments. In most cases, nothing makes a difference.
Certainly, a small amount of human error in the game will be erased. Framing as a catcher is a bit less important, and pitchers need to operate with slight swing and miss material within the zone. That being said, there should not be any noticeable differences.
Who will be most affected?
In 2024, San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey led all catchers with more than three framing runs than the Seattle Mariners’ second-place Callowry.
Bailey was in the top 10 among catchers who turned the ball from the top of the zone to a strike on the left side of the home plate, on the right side of the home plate and below the home plate. He was equally good in 2023, leading the league in framing and ran again at 17.
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