MLB will use automated ball-strike challenge system in upcoming All-Star game
The ABS challenge system was most recently used by MLB teams during roughly 60% of spring training games. Clubs were given two challenges per game to have balls and strikes reviewed by Hawk-Eye technology. Only pitchers, catchers and hitters could issue a challenge, after which an animated replay of the pitch was shown on the scoreboard before the home plate umpire issued a final call.
MLB has been testing ABS at the Triple A level since 2023, both for challenges and as a fully-automated strike zone. Last June, after games were previously split between fully automated and the challenge system, all Triple-A games were moved entirely to the challenge system.
During spring training, players could call for a challenge by tapping their hat or helmet after a pitch. Assistance from the dugout or other players on the field was prohibited, and challenges could be retained if successful.
The use of ABS in the All-Star game is another opportunity for MLB to test the technology as it weighs whether or not to implement it for next season. Commissioner Rob Manfred said last month he intends to make an ABS proposal at the league's competition committee meeting later this summer.
Shortly after Manfred's comments, The Athletic published a poll of 134 players in which 63.4% of respondents said they were against a fully-automated system. Of the 134, only 17.1% were in favor.
Among the complications of a fully-automated system include how to measure the strike zone, and whether it should be dependent on a player's height or batting stance.
'My single biggest concern is working through the process and deploying it in a way that's acceptable to the players,' Manfred said in June. 'There's always going to be things around the edges that we need to work through and whatever, and I want them to feel like we respected the committee process and that there was a full airing of concerns about the system, and an attempt to address those concerns before we go forward."
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