Major League Baseball approves Automated Ball-Strike System for 2026 season
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Major League Baseball's Joint Competition Committee met today and voted on the implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike system for the 2026 season.
The 11-person committee, comprised of six owners, four players and one umpire, has approved the ABS system for next year.
BREAKING: Major League Baseball will use the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) during the entire 2026 season
ABS CHALLENGE RULES:
- Each team will get two challenges and can keep them if they're successful
- Challenges can only be initiated by a pitcher, catcher, or batter, and the request must come right after the pitch
- To signal a challenge, the pitcher, catcher, or batter will tap his hat or helmet to let the umpire know
- No help from the dugout or other players on the field is allowed
- In each extra inning, a team will be awarded a challenge if it has none remaining entering the inning
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
- Each team will get two challenges and can keep them if they're successful
- Challenges can only be initiated by a pitcher, catcher, or batter, and the request must come right after the pitch
- To signal a challenge, the pitcher, catcher, or batter will tap his hat or helmet to let the umpire know
- No help from the dugout or other players on the field is allowed
- In each extra inning, a team will be awarded a challenge if it has none remaining entering the inning
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
The ABS system will hold umpires accountable in their calls going forward
Under the incoming ABS system, any pitcher, catcher or hitter will be able to tap his helmet or cap to signify his desire to challenge a ball or strike call from the home plate umpire.
Teams are afforded two challenges per game but are only docked a challenge if it is unsuccessful.
Once a team has two unsuccessful challenges, they'll be out of challenges for the remainder of the game. In theory, there's no limit to the number of successful challenges a team could go through in a game.
Challenges must come immediately after a ball/strike call is made; the dugout cannot have the team's replay coordinator review the pitch and call for a challenge 10 to 15 seconds after the pitch was delivered, for instance.
The challenge result will be shown on the on the scoreboard immediately after a challenge is granted.
For many players, this system will be second-nature. The ABS system was first implemented in the low minors back in 2021.
It's been standard at the Triple-A level since 2022. More veteran players got their first taste of it during spring training 2025 and will have all of the 2026 spring schedule to acclimate to the changes.
As with any notable change, there will be some hurdles and probably some hiccups in the adoption, but the league's hope is surely that, much like the pitch clock and, to a lesser extent, instant replay, it will quickly become a fairly seamless integration.
It will be interesting to see how catchers adjust with the ABS system implemented in the future, as pitch framing will become less effective and may become a thing of the past.
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