Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that the Automatic Ball Strike Challenge System (ABS) will be used full-time starting in the 2026 season.
The system, which has been used at the minor league level, will allow a pitcher, catcher, or batter to challenge a ball or strike call immediately after a call. The challenge, which the MLB says takes “approximately 15 seconds,” will then be displayed to fans in the ballpark on a video board showing the outcome. Teams will get two challenges per game, which can be retained upon a successful challenge.
“The previous rule changes that have been adopted by the Joint Competition Committee have had staying power and created momentum for the game,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. “I commend the Joint Competition Committee for striking the right balance of preserving the integral role of the umpire in the game with the ability to correct a missed call in a high-leverage situation, all while preserving the pace and rhythm of the game.”
“I worked really hard my whole career to be good at receiving [pitches],” said Guardians Catcher Austin Hedges. “So we’ll see how that goes."
“It’s a big change, right?” said Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt, who was a catcher in his playing career. “It’s a new rule, so we’re going to have to learn how to use it, and learn how to adapt to it. You can like it, dislike it, it doesn’t matter, it’s coming, so we’ll figure out what all that entails, and we’re going to implement that into our strategy, or how we’re going to police it, however you want to say. But it’s coming and we got six months to figure it out.”
The MLB regular season concludes on Sunday, Sept. 28.
