As the 2025 Major League Baseball season kicks in, the franchise continues testing out a new system that they began back in 2021. The name of this system is the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS), where players will be able to challenge any call of a ball or strike. The new system is being developed by the MLB in collaboration with the Atlantic League, which is a high-level independent league often compared to Minor League Baseball’s High-A level. There will be restrictions for the system, though: Only the pitcher, batter, or catcher can call for a review, and they must immediately do so after the umpire announces the call, without any communication with anyone in the dugout. 

Once a call has been challenged, an automated replay system will determine exactly where a pitch was located when it crossed home plate using a set of cameras placed around the entire ballpark. A computer-animated replay will play on the scoreboard to announce the outcome of the challenge. The whole process takes between 15 and 20 seconds. Once a team has made two unsuccessful challenges, they won’t be able to challenge any more pitches for the rest of the game. 

Looking into the minor leagues, the ABS challenge system was in effect for many AAA games last season, as well as Arizona Fall League games starting in 2023. According to the league, players appeared to save challenges for higher leverage situations. At spring training, there was  a lot of interest in the system from players and managers across the board. With only two challenges available each game, teams have talked through how to strategize and use their two challenges efficiently. In the minor leagues, some teams decided that players shouldn’t challenge too early in the count, or without runners on base. 

Umpires first began calling both balls and strikes way back in 1864, and baseballers have continued to argue about those calls from that point forward.There’s been enormous pressure on baseball to improve the accuracy of umpires. Missed calls can lead to lost tempers and drama. Additionally, they can lead to runs or strikeouts that could potentially affect the outcome of a game. On the other hand, coaches and players throughout the MLB have expressed a sense of concern for the new idea at hand, suggesting that it’s an overuse of technology that isn’t necessary. 

Looking forward, this system could potentially be used in regular season games in the year 2026. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred supports the use of technology to improve the game and sees it as a potentially very important tool to assist umpires and improve accuracy. However, he does continue to emphasize the importance of thorough testing and addressing of technical issues before full integration into the sport. 

Current senior Oliver Trent, who plays South’s varsity baseball team, expressed his opinion on the new system. 

“I like it a lot because I think umpires in the MLB, and in general, are very inconsistent and don’t have a correct zone,” he explained. “[Technology] will have much more accurate zones, and it’ll be a lot better for the MLB and baseball and general.”

Article by Sofia Bell