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As we enter the final week of the 2025 MLB regular season, the league has made a significant announcement, stating that it will implement an Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System for the entirety of the 2026 season.

What is an ABS challenge system?

The ABS challenge system is not "robot umps," as many had feared would come to baseball. Instead of being an automated system that calls every ball and strike, the ABS Challenge System allows teams to request a review of important ball-strike calls during a game. It's a balance between a fully technological system and the current system that includes natural human error from the very human umpires.

If you've watched a tennis match, then you already know how this ABS system will work. After a given pitch is delivered during a game, a batter, catcher, or pitcher will have a narrow window of time to challenge the call the umpire made. Once a challenge has been made, the umpire will inform the stadium that the pitch is being challenged, and everyone, including the players and umpires, will watch the Jumbotron that every stadium has in the outfield. The screen will show an animation that depicts the path of the pitch, and then, when the pitch crosses the plate, it will pause and highlight the location of the pitch as it crossed the plate to see if any part of the ball knicked the strike zone in the slightest bit. If the animation shows that the pitch was a strike, the pitch must be called a strike, regardless of what the umpire had called before, and vice versa.

How will the ABS system work in baseball?

MLB stadiums are equipped with Hawk-Eye technology that already monitors the exact spin, movement, and location of each pitch, relative to the batter’s zone. That's how we get all of our advanced pitch mix data over the last few seasons. Players will now be able to use that technology to request a challenge of a ball or strike call if they think the umpire got it wrong.

Unlike in the NFL, where a coach has to throw a challenge flag, in MLB games, managers will not be able to challenge. Challenges are only allowed to be initiated by a pitcher, catcher, or batter, and they will do so by tapping their hat or helmet to let the umpire know.

This system is designed to prevent any help from the dugout or other players on the field, which will limit any player from getting outside feedback from a team's own technology to tell him that he should challenge. The challenge must also come immediately after the ball or strike has been called, so players will get no time to deliberate and wait for a teammate or coach to yell something to them.

This ABS system will work by creating a unique strike zone for each batter. This was something that Guardians catcher Austin Hedges was worried about when I spoke to him during spring training. Austin Hedges told me that his biggest fear with an ABS system was that the league needs "to figure out what that strike zone means. I worry about having a different strike zone for every hitter, and now the umpire has to know what that strike zone is for each measured zone."

As outlined by The Athletic, the zone will also be created using technology: "The ABS zone for each player is based on measurements taken by one independent party and verified by another; the top of the zone is defined as 53.5 percent of a player’s height, and the bottom of the zone is 27 percent of their height. The zone is 17 inches wide — the width of home plate — and pitch location is measured at the midpoint between the front and back of the plate. Any part of the ball only needs to tick the edge of the zone to be a strike."

Of course, the issue here is that umpires will need to be able to quickly adjust the strike zone to that specificity for every single hitter during a game or risk getting calls wrong.

Another wrinkle in how this will work is seeing how teams devise a strategy for deciding who can issue a challenge. Data has shown that catchers tend to be the most accurate in terms of determining balls and strikes, which seems obvious, but managers may prevent some issues with a poor understanding of the strike zone by issuing a challenge. Managers may also prevent their team from challenging pitches early in the count or early in the game because they don't want to risk being out of challenges in the crucial final innings. It will be an interesting and exciting new level of strategy for MLB managers.

How many ABS challenges per game in MLB?

Each team will get two challenges at the start of the game, and they will be able to keep the challenges if they're successful, so we could rephrase that to say that each team gets two incorrect challenges a game. Even if that seems like a recipe for infinite challenges, previous data has shown that to not be the case. According to Baseball America,"On average, there were 4.2 ABS challenges out of the roughly 290 pitches thrown per Triple-A game in 2025."

In each extra inning, a team will be given an additional challenge if it has none remaining entering the 10th inning. If they use the challenge, they will get a new one at the start of the 11th inning. If a team does have challenges remaining entering extra innings, they will not be given a new challenge, but they will be granted an additional one if they use their remaining challenge in the 10th inning.

Which baseball leagues are using automated systems?

MLB has been experimenting with many different forms of ABS systems in games since 2019. Back in 2019, the Atlantic League, which is an independent league run in conjunction with MLB, adopted a full ABS system, which is more casually referred to as "robot umps," where technology called every pitch in the umpire's ear. The Challenge System was then used for the first time in 2022 in the Florida State League. For the two seasons after that, 2023 and 2024, Triple-A teams tested both the Challenge System and the full ABS system. By the end of the 2024 season, it had become clear during feedback that the challenge system was more popular with players and fans, which is why it was tested in MLB spring training this season.

Will the ABS system impact the length of the game?

As Baseball America reported in the same article linked above, "the ABS challenge system hasn’t really affected game time in Triple-A." Much like in tennis, these challenges are quick, so this will not be similar to lengthy NFL and NBA replays that can often sap the momentum of the game. According to an MLB release, "In 288 games with the ABS Challenge System during Spring Training 2025, there were an average of 4.1 challenges per game, and those challenges took an average of 13.8 seconds." That means the Challenge System would add approximately one minute to each game.

How accurate is the ABS system in baseball?

According to the same MLB press release, during the 288-game experiment during spring training, calls were overturned 52.2% of the time. As we noted above, catchers had the best success rate at 56%, while hitters were successful 50% of the time, and pitchers were successful just 41% of the time.

It is important to note that there is a margin for error with the Hawkeye technology, as there is for all technology. As previously reported by The Athletic, the league has "acknowledged the margin for error’s presence," but had not, at that time, told players exactly how large the margin was.

How will ABS impact catchers?

One of the immediate reactions to the challenge system is that it will impact the value of catchers being strong framers. Hedges mentioned that he had some concerns about what the ABS system would do for defensive catchers like himself: "I don't know if it's gonna be enough to make [framing] not as important, but it's definitely gonna take a little bit away from receiving."

While it may impact receiving in a small way, because the catcher can fool an umpire with good framing and then have that call challenged, it's unlikely to have a major impact on framing. As Giants catcher Patrick Bailey said in an article with The Athletic, "I don’t think it’s going to take away the value of framing. You still have to get calls and keep strikes (as) strikes. At the end of the day, I still think it’s going to be really valuable to know the zone.”

Bailey's point is a crucial one here. For a strike to even be challenged, the catcher has to get the strike first. He still has to present it successfully to the umpire. If he does get that strike call, it's not a given that the opposing team will challenge since they only get two missed challenges a game. Are you willing to risk that in the second inning on an 0-0 pitch? That may not seem like a significant pitch in the overall course of the game, but it's huge for a pitcher to be in a 0-1 count versus a 1-0 count. That could drastically reshape an entire inning, so the value of framing absolutely will still exist.

In the ABS challenge system, the vast majority of pitches are still going to be called by the umpires, so catchers being able to get those borderline called strikes called will still have tremendous value. A really good framing catcher could also make it hard on opposing teams to know when they should challenge or not, which adds an extra layer of strategy, while a poor framer may force himself or his pitcher to use more challenges to get ball calls reversed because the catcher framed a strike poorly.

For every player, it will make an understanding of the strike zone even more important.

“I don’t think it’s going to change the game as much as I originally thought it would,” Bailey said. “I think it’s just going to take away the really big misses.”

That's something everybody can get behind.

SEATTLE — The surging Seattle Mariners clinched a spot in the postseason, but they hope the real celebrations are yet to come.

Seattle earned the playoff berth with a dramatic 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies after getting some help from the New York Yankees, who beat the Chicago White Sox. Josh Naylor provided the big hit, a bases-clearing double with two outs in the eighth inning after Seattle had generated little offense against the major league-worst Rockies.

“We’ve still got work to do, obviously, but you never know when you’re going to get this opportunity again so we’re going to celebrate tonight,” catcher Cal Raleigh said.

The Mariners now have their eye on their first AL West title since 2001. Seattle moved four games ahead of the Houston Astros — who lost to the Athletics — and can wrap up the division as early as Wednesday.

“This is a special group. They’ve shown it all season long,” manager Dan Wilson said. “There is a lot of work to do, starting with the division. Hopefully we get that done sooner than later and we keep going. But there is a lot ahead of us, and I think this team is ready and primed for it.”

The Mariners also are in position for the second seed in the American League, and can secure that spot if they sweep the Rockies. That would give Seattle a first-round playoff bye.

This is the Mariners’ second playoff berth since 2001 and the sixth in franchise history. They ended a 21-year postseason drought in 2022, losing in the divisional round to the Astros. Seattle finished one game out of a wild-card spot in each of the past two seasons.

“We know the hunger the fan base has, and that motivates us to be out here and do the best that we can every single night,” center fielder Julio Rodríguez said. “We know the history, but we’re trying to write something different for this city and this town now.”

This year, the Mariners could be the hottest team entering the postseason. Led by slugging catcher Raleigh and his major league-leading 58 homers, Seattle has won 15 of 16 games and is coming off a sweep at Houston to take control of the division race.

“It’s taken a few years, but it makes this moment very nice. That’s the goal, right? Win the World Series and remember those moments you’ll never forget. That’s what we’re thinking, and we’re not done yet,” Raleigh said. “The last couple years have just been very painful at the end of the year. You come so close and you work so hard every year, and to come up short, it’s that much more satisfying when you do get the job done.”

CLEVELAND — For a frightening moment, the AL Central race hardly mattered.

Guardians designated hitter David Fry was expected to be hospitalized overnight after he was hit in the face by a pitch from Detroit’s Tarik Skubal in the sixth inning of Cleveland’s 5-2 win over the Tigers, a victory that deadlocked the division.

Fry squared around to try to bunt a 99 mph fastball from Skubal and the pitch struck him in the nose and mouth area. As Fry collapsed in the batter’s box and immediately grabbed his bloodied face, a visibly shaken Skubal threw off his glove and cap as Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt and trainers rushed onto the field.

Fry laid in the dirt for several minutes before being slowly helped to his feet. He gave a thumbs-up signal as he sat up and was driven off in a cart.

The Guardians said Fry was being transported from Lutheran Medical Center to the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus for further testing and observation. The team said it would update Fry’s condition Wednesday morning.

“It was straight to the face,” Vogt said, describing the impact on Fry that shook everyone inside Progressive Field. “We’re all thinking about David and his family right now. Obviously, we’re glad he is OK, but obviously it’s a really scary moment.”

Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, paced around the infield as Fry was being assisted. Following the game, Skubal, who allowed just two hits through the first five innings, said seeing Fry in distress was difficult.

“Really tough,” said the left-hander. “I’ve already reached out to him. I’m sure his phone is blowing up. I just want to make sure he’s all right. Obviously, he seemed like he was OK coming off the field and hopefully it stays that way.

“I know sometimes with those things that can change. So hopefully he’s all right. I look forward to hopefully at some point tonight or (Wednesday) morning getting a text from him and making sure he’s all good because there’s things that are bigger than the game and the health of him is more important than a baseball game.”

That’s how Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan felt after watching Fry, an All-Star in 2024 who underwent offseason elbow surgery and didn’t join the team until late May, go down.

“Definitely really scary,” Kwan said. “For David to even try something like that (bunt), that’s just who he is. Selfless kind of guy, and especially in a position like that, he’s a tough guy. Thankfully he had some humor when he came up, but you don’t want to see a guy that’s been with you pretty much the whole year.

“Obviously energy-wise, just who he is as a teammate, he’s meant so much to us as a team. It’s really scary, but thankfully he had some humor coming off the field, so hopefully we get some good news.”

Following the incident, Skubal threw a wild pitch to George Valera, who replaced Fry, allowing Cleveland to score. Skubal also had an error — he inexplicably tried to make a blind throw to first between his legs — and was also called for a balk in the sixth inning as the Guardians rallied for three runs to take a 3-2 lead without hitting a ball out of the infield.

With its 16th win in 18 games, Cleveland caught Detroit atop the division after trailing the Tigers by 15 1/2 games on July 8. The Guardians were still 12 1/2 games back on Aug. 25, but have gone 17-5 in September.

The Tigers, meanwhile, have dropped seven straight and 10 of 11.

“I feel like we’ve been this way for a couple of series now,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “It’s not quite pressing but we definitely feel some of the pressure and we’ve got to mitigate it. We’ve got to eliminate it. We’ve still got to find ways to stay loose, focus in and hone in on what we need to do and go out there and do it.”