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jesse rogers
multiple authors
Major League Baseball’s new automated ball-strike challenge system is finally here.
starting wednesday night New York Yankees–san francisco giants Beginning in the 2026 MLB season, players will be able to appeal ball and strike calls made by plate umpires.
Each team will receive two challenges to start the game. Immediately after a pitch is thrown – and without the help of the dugout in making the decision – the pitcher, catcher or hitter may challenge the ball or call a strike by tapping his helmet or cap.
The umpire will accept the challenge and the pitch will then be replayed in real time via animation on the stadium’s videoboard and TV broadcast. The result of the challenge will be shown publicly through that replay. If a team wins the challenge, it can remain challenging. As soon as a team loses two challenges, it no longer has the ability to challenge the pitch for the remainder of that game.
This procedure has been tested in minors for years During the last two MLB spring trainings. Data shows that deciding when to challenge a call is often a more difficult decision than fans might think. In the 2026 spring training games, 53% of 1,844 challenges were successful. Only 45% of the challenges initiated by the batsmen worked, while 60% for the defence. Overall, there were an average of 4.32 challenges per game – of which 2.28 were successful.
chicago cubs Hitters’ overturn rate was the best at 65%, while 75% of the St. Louis Cardinals’ challenges on defense were successful, tops among pitchers and catchers. During this time, kansas city royals hitters were correct only 31% of the time, while toronto blue jays Only successful in defense over 50% of the time, last in major cases.
Who will be the first player to ask for a ball-strike call review in a regular season game? What strategic approaches are teams taking to what and when to challenge? And what unexpected consequences might arise during the season?
ESPN asked 19 team executives about one of the game’s biggest changes since replay review first began in 2008. Because the questions involve team strategy, we allowed our respondents to remain anonymous.
What have you learned about ABS this spring?
Teams are most concerned about calls at the top of the strike zone. Each player’s height was measured during spring training specifically for the ABS. How detailed is the process? The league is paying special attention to taking measurements in the morning because studies have shown that people’s height fluctuates throughout the day.
The new measurements are based on the player’s height, they have nothing to do with their stance. In practice, people with an honest attitude think cody bellinger – Some pitches may tip in their favor, while the opposite is true for clearly tilted ones.
“The height of the field has been the most discussed topic,” said one executive. “Players have asked a lot of questions about the height of the field relative to the stance. It’s been hard for them to internalize that. When ABS was introduced a lot of the focus was on the sides of the plate, but it’s certain that calibration at the top of the field in the early days, in particular, will be a challenge.”
Another said: “The umpires seem to miss the top of the zone a lot more than other areas. In particular, breaking balls that hit the top.”
Even the umpires recognize the difference. One major league umpire said, “You can’t call anything too high.” “Nothing. There’s a little more truth below.”
Many officials immediately praised the umpires, noting that many of the spring calls that were challenged and/or overturned were on pitches that barely cut the zone or simply missed it – on several occasions by less than an inch.
One respondent said, “In terms of things we’ve learned, umpires are better than expected, have few missed calls on average and are very close on most of their missed pitches.”
But because even a little bit matters, the two executives expressed a desire for more than two challenges. There are many close calls that must be reviewed.
“It seems to be a more frequent occurrence that a team runs out of challenges in the eighth and ninth innings and important – perhaps the most important – pitches will still be missed.”
Will you let pitchers challenge you?
yes: 5
Yes, but strongly suggest they don’t do that :4
No: 10
On the surface this seems like a silly question. Of course, the player who actually threw the pitch should be allowed to challenge the call – right? But this is not the case for many teams who think that pitchers are not in the best physical condition after throwing a pitch or are too emotionally invested to make this decision. Those teams would much rather their catchers do this. When the strategy was first discussed at the MLB winter meetings, most managers were already saying they would not allow pitchers to challenge.
One executive said, “Pitchers have shown a limited ability to identify where the pitch actually was.”
Another “no” respondent said: “I think it’s also human nature that if a pitcher pats his head, the catcher will likely pat his head, too. I’ve seen that happen a few times this spring.”
But not every team is adamant in not allowing pitchers to challenge — although several answered yes, they did so with one caveat.
“Yes, pitchers are being allowed to challenge,” said one executive. “But the preference is to let the catcher do it unless they feel very strongly about it.
Another said: “We don’t have any explicit rules prohibiting it, but we did suggest they don’t challenge.”
Even in mid-March, two team executives said they were still unsure whether they would allow their pitchers to be challenged, placing it as one of the last things to be resolved before the regular season began.
One executive said, “We let them challenge during the spring, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea when the games matter.” “I can leave that to the manager.”
Another thing that some teams have learned is that the modern-day pitcher may be less equipped to challenge calls than his counterpart from previous eras. The theory is that their follow-through is more violent than ever, which means they are not getting into position to see where their pitches actually hit.
One respondent said, “For some people, that’s the head ‘thunk,’ where they fall to either side and the head goes along.” “The old school was over in fielding positions, right? [We see] More modern violent pursuit because people throw harder.”
What is your general strategy, knowing that you have two challenges per game unless you continue to win them?
When? The scheduling challenge has generated the most discussion within teams this spring, as the staff has been giving players general guidelines for the regular season. And the strategy on day 1 may be different from day 30 or 60 due to the initial data being collected.
One team said it would “trust the instincts” of its players – but would that hold up? “High-leverage” situations was a popular term in camps, although each player’s definition of it may be different.
One executive said, “Try to keep the challenges until later in the game, more just for leverage and strategy when there are only two.” “If you want to use it quickly, make sure it’s a high-base-traffic situation.”
Another executive agreed: “Basically just trying to tell them we use it when leverage is high — full counts, close games, late — and we’ll adjust from there.”
Early in games, teams want to challenge most “egregious” calls. These are the ones “everyone knows when you see one,” said one executive.
“Ignore the feeling of finality regarding the decision, challenge only when 100% certain. This is easier said than done.”
Several teams stated that they would allow “more freedom” if the team had two challenges rather than being limited to only one. Potentially running out of high-leverage moments remaining is a fear among all teams.
One executive echoed the approach of many teams, saying, “We’re asking them to be more selective with a challenge.” “Got to play a late, close game. With only two strikes.”
An executive simply emailed: “No 0-0 challenge.”
