Category: Sports News

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — As you know, at long last MLB players will get the chance to challenge ball-and-strike calls during games beginning this year. Officially called the ABS challenge system, this has been tested in Triple-A games for a couple of years and had a test in some Spring Training games in 2025.

Thursday, the league gave a presentation about how the system will work as part of Cactus League media day. Joe Martinez, who pitched for four MLB teams from 2009-13 and who is now the league’s Vice President for On-Field Strategy, presented facts about how the tests have worked and how the system will work in action in MLB games this year.

For those of you worried about ABS challenges lengthening games, remember that teams get just two challenges per game (which are retained if the player is correct, so in theory, there could be more). In Triple-A games last year, ABS challenges added one minute and eight seconds to the average game time and in 2025 Spring Training games, that addition was 57 seconds. It’s just not a big deal.

Martinez mentioned a couple of minor tweaks to the rule. If a team is out of ABS challenges after nine innings, they will get one additional challenge in the 10th. If that challenge is used in the 10th, they’ll get another in the 11th, but if not used, the one challenge simply carries over to additional extra innings.

As you know, the challenge can be initiated only by the batter, pitcher or catcher, and must be done within about two seconds. The umpire has the right to “wave off” a challenge if players take too long. Two other tweaks were also mentioned:

• No ABS challenges will be allowed if a position player is pitching, and
• If an incorrect ball/strike call impacts a play on the bases, the umpires have discretion to then place any runners involved.

MLB surveyed fans about this system and 72 percent had a positive view of ABS challenges, with only 10 percent seeing it as negative. Minor league players who were surveyed also liked it, with 60 percent in favor of the challenge system (and another 16 percent voting for “full ABS”). Really, this is something whose time has come. With pitch-tracking technology now available, it’s just been a matter of tweaking the system to find one that’s agreeable to all.

The box that will be used for ABS challenges will be the width of the plate, at the middle of the plate (the point at which the plate’s edges begin to angle to its rear point). Each player will be measured and thus there will be a personal box for every player, with the top of the box at 53.5 percent of the player’s height and the bottom at 27 percent of the height.

Martinez said that if any part of the ball touches said box, it’s a strike. That will clearly be shown on the graphic that will be shown to fans at ballparks and on TV broadcasts. One thing that the league is aiming for is to have the boxes shown by MLB Gameday, by TV broadcasts and by Baseball Savant to be the same box. So for those who have said, “Well, that box you see on TV isn’t the real strike zone,” MLB intends for that to be the actual zone for each player.

The number of ABS challenges will be shown on scoreboards, in most cases replacing the “MVR” currently shown for “Mound Visits Remaining,” though MVR is also supposed to be “prominently displayed.” At Wrigley Field, MVR has been shown on the right-field video board, while the score line has been on the left-field board. I would assume the Cubs will find a prominent place to show both ABS and MVR.

The graphic shown above, which is from last year, will be tweaked to also show the team that is challenging the call, and after the call is either confirmed or overturned, the count will be shown so that players, coaches and fans will know what the current count is. Umpires will also make an announcement over the PA system that there is a ball-and-strike challenge, as well as the result.

The method of challenge, as you likely remember from last year, will be for the pitcher, catcher or batter to tap his cap or helmet. Players are also being encouraged to verbalize the challenge so that the umpire can hear it as well as see the gesture. If there is a play after the pitch (for example, a stolen base attempt), the challenge can be made and accepted at the conclusion of that play.

To help ensure that players aren’t getting assistance from the dugout for ABS challenges, the league will institute delays on pitch location data in MLB Gameday and there will be a nine-second delay for the broadcast feed to show pitch location to dugouts. That’s only for players and coaches, though. As reported by MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, here’s how it will work for you, the fan:

It remains up to the individual broadcasters to determine whether and how to present the zone. The only change is that MLB is now requesting broadcasters to no longer differentiate the circle in the box depending on whether the pitch is a ball or a strike. In other words, some broadcasts would show a filled-in circle on the zone if the pitch was a strike and a hollow circle if it was a ball. MLB is asking its broadcast partners to do one or the other but not both.

So you will probably continue to see some sort of strike zone box on game broadcasts

The following rules will be in effect for any ABS challenges that might also trigger a traditional replay review:

• If there is potential for a review following an ABS Challenge, umpires will check that neither manager wants to initiate a Replay Review before restarting the clock.
• If a manager want to challenge a play following an ABS Challenge, the request must come immediately after the conclusion of the ABS Challenge (thus no 15-second manager hold as you often see for replay review).
• If these two types of reviews are requested simultaneously, the umpire will accept the ABS Challenge first and then prompt managers for Replay Review.
• The play types that are most likely to be impacted are plays on the bases (stolen base attempts or pickoffs) and HBPs.

In this year’s Spring Training, all games between two MLB teams will have ABS challenges available. If a MLB team plays a college team, minor-league team or WBC team, ABS won’t be used (so not in the Cubs vs. Italy game on March 3). Further, this year’s WBC will not use ABS challenges — though the WBC will use the pitch timer for the first time.

There were two other unrelated rule changes mentioned at the demonstration.

One has to do with obstruction. A runner who initiates contact with a fielder with the intent to “draw” an obstruction call will be called out. If a runner does this, umpires should treat it like “unsportsmanlike conduct,” thus the runner is out and all other runners will return to the base last touched.

The other has to do with positioning of base coaches. You have certainly seen many base coaches far out of the official “coaches box” which is designated (usually) by white lines on the first- and third-base sidelines. Now, base coaches will have to be positioned in those coaches’ boxes between pitches when the pitcher is on the rubber. If the umpires observe a base coach outside of the coaches’ box between pitches while the pitcher is on the rubber, they will warn to coach and instruct him to return to the box. If, after receiving a warning, the coach is observed outside the box again, the umpire may remove the coach from the game. The purpose of this change is to help prevent sign-stealing.

Of course, players will have to be judicious in when they call for challenges. Limiting teams to two per game creates strategy. You wouldn’t likely bother, for example, calling for a challenge if a pitch in a scoreless game in the second inning with nobody on base is perceived to be incorrect. This proved to be true in the Triple-A tests, with only about two percent of pitches challenged in the first two innings, but with that percentage rising to 3.5 percent in the ninth inning. It was different in the MLB Spring Training test last year, with more pitches challenged in the early innings. This is likely because MLB players are playing the early innings and were encouraged to use more challenges. That’s what happened, in fact, in the very first ABS challenge, called for by the Cubs’ Cody Poteet (remember him?) last February.

Personally, I’m excited to see ABS challenges become part of the game. There are quite a number of players who are very good at strike-zone judgment and who have been victimized by what Cubs analyst Jim Deshaies always calls “egregious” bad calls. Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is one of these players. I think we’re going to see Suzuki strike out somewhat less because of this rule.

Here’s the entire MLB presentation if you’re interested.

10. Griffin Herring (368 points, 19 ballots)

Herring was the headline prospect coming to the Rockies from the Yankees in exchange for Ryan McMahon near last year’s trade deadline. The 6’2”, 22-year-old lefty pitcher was the Yankees’ sixth-round pick in 2024 out of LSU as a draft-eligible sophomore. Herring signed for a $798k bonus that was over double the pick’s $340k slot value, more akin to a late third-round pick’s slot value. Herring was a key contributor as a freshman to the 2023 National Championship squad as an ace multi-inning reliever despite velocity topping out in the low 90s, then was even more impressive in that role as a sophomore (1.79 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 12.0 K/9 rate, 2.3 BB/9 rate) in 50 1/3 innings (which was third on the team) across 21 games.

As a professional, the Yankees not only gave Herring the opportunity to start, they remade his delivery and his pitch mix — emphasizing the slider. The result was a breakout debut professional season. Herring made eight starts in Low-A to begin the year and was dominant, posting a miniscule 1.21 ERA with a 0.9 WHIP and 11.7 K/9 rate in 44 2/3 innings as a league average pitcher. A late-May promotion to High-A (where he was 1.2 years younger than league average) didn’t faze Herring much. He threw eight more strong starts with another 44 2/3 innings, a 2.22 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 8.9 K/9 rate, and 4.0 BB/9 rate — though his 3.71 xFIP indicated some good fortune.

After the trade in late July, Herring made seven shorter starts for High-A Spokane as the Rockies no doubt metered his usage considering his lower innings total in 2023 and 2024. In 30 innings with Spokane, Herring allowed eleven earned runs (2.40 ERA) on 14 hits and 13 walks ( 0.90 WHIP) while striking out an impressive 47 hitters (14.1 K/9 rate). In fact, Herring struck out over a batter per inning in every single start with Spokane, going a max of 84 pitches and five innings in those outings, and was named the August Pitcher of the Month in the Northwest League.

Across the full 2025 season, Herring threw 119 1/3 innings across two levels and three teams with a 1.89 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 11.2 K/9 rate, and 3.7 BB/9 rate while allowing only a .530 OPS. That’s 149 strikeouts against 49 walks and 70 hits. Impressively, the lefty was even stingier when batters had the platoon advantage (.485 OPS for righties, .639 OPS for lefties), though Herring cut down the mightiest hitters in the league regardless of handedness.

Here’s some video of Herring in High-A in a mid June start:

Additionally, here’s an interview with Herring from August where he describes his adjustment to a new team and a new coast.

Keith Law of the Athletic recently ranked Herring 10th in the system:

Herring struck out 31.4 percent of batters he faced last year, the seventh-best strikeout rate among all qualifying starters in the minors. He sits 90-92 from a very high slot that gives him a ton of deception, working with a short slider that generates a ton of whiffs and an average changeup. He’s almost certainly a reliever between the slot and the below-average fastball, but could get there quickly and be valuable in any kind of once-through-the-order role. I wish he’d been traded to the Reds; I’m worried in Denver, he’ll get smoked.

Baseball America ranked Herring 12th in the system last month:

Herring has been developed as a starter, which might seem strange for a player with a fastball that averaged a tick under 90 mph in 2025, but his nearly seven feet of extension and slight pause in his delivery create an impressive angle of attack, plenty of deception and a whippy finish. He has found the most success so far with a mid-80s slider that generates plenty of whiffs within the strike zone. … If Herring wants to remain a starter, he’ll need to add more zip to his fastball, perhaps by packing on some muscle over the offseason. His profile and wipeout slider could fit better in a bullpen.

Shaun Kernahan of Three Quarter Slot wrote up Herring earlier this month:

Herring operates with a deceptive, athletic delivery from the extreme third-base side of the rubber, using extension, timing disruption, and angle to make a below-average fastball play above its raw velocity. The heater lacks pure velo, but the ride/run shape allows it to miss bats at the top of the zone when located, even if it can flatten out and get exposed when it leaks arm-side or into the middle. Your look showed a mechanical operation with a slow windup and quick finish, hiding the ball well but occasionally losing consistency through release, which ties directly to the fastball’s volatility. A modest velocity bump would materially change the profile, especially given how well the rest of the arsenal fits a starter look.

The slider is the clear carrying pitch, working in the mid-80s with tight gyro action and strong spin, consistently landing glove-side and missing bats against both lefties and righties. The changeup is better than most give credit for, showing real vertical separation and late tumble when executed, particularly effective against right-handed hitters. Strike throwing is generally solid, though command can waver within outings, leading to stretches where hitters are off balance followed by lapses where he misses his spots. His background as a high-leverage reliever at LSU shows up in the competitiveness and ability to execute secondary pitches, but the long-term path hinges on fastball improvement. If the heater takes even a small step forward, there’s a workable starter track; if not, the slider/changeup combination still fits an innings-eating role or leverage usage where the deception and bat-miss traits can play up.

MLB Pipeline is high on Herring, ranking him 9th in the system as a 45 FV player with a 60 grade on the slider:

Herring’s best pitch is a sweeping mid-80s slider with horizontal and vertical action that confounds both lefties and righties. He can’t overpower hitters with his fastball, which operates in the low 90s and tops out at 94 with some armside run, and he’ll need to find more velocity or life against better competition. He threw only 11 changeups at LSU but emphasized the pitch more during three Cape Cod League starts last summer, showing some decent if firm mid-80s cambios with depth.

Herring has a long arm action and a less-than-smooth delivery, though it throws batters’ timing off and didn’t stop him from pounding the strike zone as a sophomore. To succeed as a pro starter, he’ll need to add more strength to his 6-foot-2 frame and improve his fastball and changeup. If he can’t, he still could become a high-leverage reliever thanks to his slider and mound presence.

Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs ranks Herring 20th in the system as a 40 FV pitcher with a 55 future grade on the slider and command:

The Yankees made several changes to Herring after drafting him (more sliders, better extension, higher arm slot) and the result looks like a stable backend starter despite 30-grade fastball velocity.

Herring spent two years as LSU’s most consistent long reliever (working as many as five innings) and was a draft-eligible sophomore in 2024. The Yankees made multiple changes to his delivery and pitch usage, which helped him dominate Low-A and earn a promotion after just eight starts. He had a 1.71 ERA combined at both levels at the time of the trade, though his K% dipped quite a bit after he was moved up to Hudson Valley. Herring’s fastball only averages about 90 mph, but lives off deception and riding life. Since turning pro, his arm slot has been raised, but Herring’s stride down the mound has gotten bigger and longer, and his extension was just shy of seven feet at the time of the trade. His loose, whippy arm action prevents hitters from seeing the baseball until release, and despite lacking anything close to average big league fastball velocity, Herring’s heater has generated above-average miss and chase so far this year.

With the Yankees, Herring also emphasized use of his slider, which has become his most-deployed pitch. It ranged from 80-85 mph in his final outing prior to the deal, and has tight late movement but lacks huge depth. It’s playing like an above-average pitch in pro ball. Herring didn’t really have a changeup in college, but he’s added one as a pro and is throwing it about 14% of the time. His feel for it isn’t bad considering he’s just begun using it, but it often cuts on him or finishes too high. A smooth on-mound operator, Herring looks the part of a starter even though he isn’t especially physical because of his mechanical grace. It’s impressive that he’s maintained his excellent college strike-throwing even though his delivery has been changed, and he projects as a high-floored backend starter.

Herring joins fellow PuRPs Carson Palmquist (No. 19) and Sean Sullivan as left-handed Rockies pitching prospects who use deception and extension to make mediocre fastball velocity play up. Herring hasn’t yet proved his effectiveness against upper-minors hitting like the other two pitchers have, but he is my favorite of the group given his weapon of a slider and is a 40+ FV player for me, ranking tenth on my list. I expect Herring to start in Double-A this season, with a big league debut possible later in the year if he’s successful and healthy.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Major League Baseball is considering becoming the second major American professional team sports league to partner with prediction platforms.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said on Thursday that the league is mulling teaming up with increasingly popular platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.

Key Takeaways

• The league did not say it was actively engaging in negotiations.
  
  
• MLB is in the middle of an illegal sports betting investigation involving teammates and a three-time All-Star.
  
  
• Partnership with prediction platforms could allow MLB to help with integrity monitoring.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that MLB team owners were informed during their quarterly meetings that the league could ingratiate itself with the prediction industry.

Manfred conceded that he only learned about platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket a few months ago. The NHL is the only other American professional team sports league to have prediction partners, both of which are listed above. 

UFC also has a partnership deal with Polymarket.

“We thought it was important for the owners to be updated on why prediction markets are different than sports betting – why we might want to consider being in business with prediction markets in an effort to protect our integrity, to get the kind of protections we need,” Manfred said. “The regulatory framework, very different. Obviously, state by state on the sports betting side, federal on the other.”

Protecting integrity

One of the primary concerns in the modern era of sports gambling and prediction market trading is the potential for illicit manipulation.

The MLB is currently experiencing that with an ongoing case involving Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who were charged with manipulating their performances in games for the benefit of sports bettors. Clase specifically was accused of rigging pitches in 48 games, or roughly one-fourth of his appearances in a two-year span.

Despite that precedent, Manfred said that teaming up with prediction platforms would allow the league to be in greater control of threats of nefarious manipulation.

“There's obviously an opportunity to work with the markets themselves to get the kind of integrity protections you want,” he said.

In the interest of preserving integrity, Kalshi announced earlier this month a slew of overhauls designed to increase consumer protection. That included banning insider trading, hiring former Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, as an adviser on market integrity, and integrating responsible trading and iMarket integrity pages on its platform, among others.

What’s the big deal?

Prediction platforms offer similar services to sportsbooks, but their operational and regulatory frameworks are completely different.

Whereas legal sportsbook users compete against the house with pre-determined odds, prediction users buy and sell contracts related to various outcomes. Prices are dictated by real-time consumer demand, influenced by updates and current events.

State gaming regulators are in charge of monitoring sportsbooks. Prediction market apps operate under the watchful eye of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A growing collection of state regulators have expressed a form of concern related to prediction markets being allowed to operate without their approval. In response, the platforms have claimed that their federal regulation supersedes state-level decisions.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Bring on the robots, tap your helmet if you disagree, and tell your analytic department it better preparing be for a whole new wave of research.

The automated ball/strike system is here for the first time in Major League Baseball, and general managers, managers and coaching staffs have already begun to strategize the best way to capitalize on a new way to challenge authority.

If the pitcher, catcher or batter disagrees with a ball or strike call, they have the right to challenge the umpire, with everyone in the stands able to see who was right with a graphic on full display on the scoreboard.

MLB 2026: Are Dodgers ruining baseball? Rivals refuse to criticize.

Teams get two challenges per nine innings, and as long as you’re proven correct, you can challenge as many times as you wish.

If you’re wrong twice, you’re out of challenges unless the game goes into extra innings.

The only players permitted to challenge are the pitcher, hitter and catcher and pitcher, and it must be issued within two seconds of the pitch being thrown, signaled by tapping your helmet.

If you blow through your challenges early, you won’t have the right to correct an errant call in the ninth inning. If the game goes into extra innings, each team will be provided one challenge in each extra inning.

So, the question for every manager now is who will be permitted to challenge, at what stage of the game, and under which circumstances.

“All I know is that we won’t let our pitchers challenge," Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona said. “They think everything is a strike."

Francona laughed, but it’s certainly a sentiment shared by several managers in interviews Thursday, with most saying they would leave that up to their catchers and hitters.

But, of course, not every hitter.

“We’re going to have a lot of conversations about that," Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I do think there’s going to be a strategy that comes with it. What that looks like, I don’t think I know right now, but we’re going to encourage conversations as far as leverage, when you use it, when not to, who should, who shouldn’t.’’

So, who has been told they can’t use it?

“I don’t want to say because they’ve already been sensitive when I brought it up," Roberts said. “So, I’m not going to name-call right now. I’m not going to say any names but I don't think that there’s a self-evaluation on who knows the strike zone, who doesn’t, who gets emotional, and understanding everything.

“I’m in favor of it."

Says Francona: “We don’t have a strategy in place because we want to kind of see how it plays out. I’ve already talked to some of our player development people to ask them how they did it, and then we’ll formulate a strategy and try to do it better than other teams like everything else.

“But I think it’s going to be OK."

In research by MLB, there were four challenges per games at the Triple-A level last season with about a 50% success rate. The most challenges, 3.5%, were utilized in the ninth inning.

“You want to have one late in the game, just in case,” Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “The top of the first inning on a 0-0 fastball, I don’t want to challenge and lose. We’ll most likely rely on catchers first. Pitchers at times get a little emotional. Hitters can be that way sometimes, too. I think we’re going to rely on the catchers.

“But I want to have one in pocket, when I can, when it’s in a critical part of the game.”

Most baseball analysts believe the San Diego Padres have the best bullpen in MLB. Even with losing All-Star closer Robert Suarez to free agency, the Padres continue to have arguably the best ‘pen in the game in large part due to Mason Miller stepping into the closer role. Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada are returning and Jason Adam is expected to recover from his ruptured quadriceps tendon in time to make an impact on the season. As Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball reported, the problem for San Diego might be too much bullpen depth. There are possibly six spots available but there are nearly three times as many players fighting for those spots.

Padres News:

• We have seen possible Padres free agent targets such as Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt and Mile Mikolas leave free agency to join their new teams but Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball identifies possible free agent pitchers who are left to add at various price points.  
• AJ Cassavell of Padres.com believes there are four players who are competing for the fifth spot in the rotation. He names JP Sears, Matt Waldon, Triston McKenzie and Marco Gonzales as pitchers competing for the final rotation spot.
• One of the main topics of the offseason has been the potential for a contract extension for Padres president of baseball operation and general manager A.J. Preller. He met with the media Thursday and stated he believes a contract will get done and that he wants to remain in San Diego. Preller added “We’re either going to do it or not.”
• Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors compiled notes about the Padres that cover multiple topics including the rotation, Randy Vasquez and Luis Campusano.

Baseball News:

• The ABS Challenge Systemwill be utilized in all MLB games starting this season. MLB.com breaks down what the system is and how it will work once the 2026 season begins.
• The Philadelphia Phillies released outfielder Nick Castellanos, but will be responsible for his $20 million salary. Castellanos can sign with any MLB team for the league minimum.
• Kike Henandez announced he is re-signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.