The automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system made its MLB debut in Spring Training this year as testing continues for an eventual full implementation into the regular season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were among the teams with ABS set up at their home park in Camelback Ranch, so they were quite familiar with the new technology.
“For me, it’s been all positive,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently said. “I think the players seem to like it. I don’t see really any downside. I think the time to turn it around and make a decision is quick enough.
“Ultimately, you’re trying to get calls right. It gives players an opportunity to challenge if there’s a big situation or count. I think it’s great.”
The ABS system permits each team two challenges per game that are retained so long as they are successful.
Home-plate umpires are still tasked with calling balls and strikes in games, but Hawk-Eye technology monitors the exact location of the pitch relative to the batter’s strike zone that is based on their height.
This allows players to ask for a challenge of a ball or strike call if they feel the umpire got it wrong. Each challenge must be made within two or three seconds of the umpire’s call.
With Spring Training coming to an end, the system will no longer be used in MLB games for the time being. It will return to the Minor League level for continued testing in 2025.
But MLB is hoping to implement the system, perhaps as soon as with the 2026 season, and it would add a significant new element of strategy to the game.
But from the umpires’ perspective, there is not a consensus on the system being beneficial or not.
“Like most things, it’s a mixed bag,” Roberts said. “I think some umpires feel that it’s a good thing, some umpires really don’t care for it.
“But it’s coming, so I think we’ve all got to wrap our heads around it.”
Some Umpires may be reluctant to embrace MLB’s challenge system because it displays their incorrect calls for everyone in attendance to see, but that is more related to their egos than anything negative for the game.
Umpires should care about making correct calls, and if there is a mistake, be thankful they had an assist from the technology.
MLB has already successfully implemented an overall replay system, allowing managers to challenge calls at a base, among other things.
But the ABS system also seems to be a small step into the direction of having the technology call an entire game to get perfect accuracy on 100% of pitches.
How is MLB ABS strike zone determined?
The strike zone for the Automated Ball-Strike system was created by establishing a two-dimensional rectangle that is set halfway back on home plate (8.5 inches from the front), and the top and bottom are set in proportion to a batter’s height.
That’s based on the length between 27% to 53.5% of a batter’s height, which is roughly the letters of the jersey to the knees when in a normal stance.
MLB took detailed measurements of player heights in order to determine the strike zone for each.
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