Recently, two articles about MLB’s slow dance with a possible automated ball/strike system, or challenge system, appeared in national media.
Here’s the one from Chelsea Janes at the Washington Post (article unlocked so you can read it).
And here’s the one from Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark at The Athletic.
MLB tested a challenge system in Spring Training and it was regarded as a success. From the WaPo article:
But two months after what MLB considered a largely successful test, the answers to those questions are still not clear, particularly in the minds of players. Conversations with players around the sport, as well as with MLB Players Association leadership, revealed a willingness to consider a version of ABS but also widespread concerns about the timing and how a computer-determined strike zone might affect nuances of the game.
From the Athletic article:
The league appears fully prepared to take that step. The umpires’ new five-year collective-bargaining agreement gives the league the flexibility to roll out ABS. The makeup of the competition committee, which consists of six owners, four players and one umpire, enables the league to override any objections players and umps might raise.
Some players like ABS. Some do not. And some want more information before drawing conclusions.
All parties agree there is much to discuss.
There are a number of quotes from players in both articles. Here’s one from the WaPo article:
“I’d prefer to be punched out by a human,” said Washington Nationals first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, lending voice to the last of those arguments. “Human error is forever and always a part of the game. There’s an error column. If I hit every pitch I swung at, I’d be a lot better. If pitchers made every pitch they tried to execute, we’d never get a hit. So I think the human error should stay forever.”
That one, I couldn’t disagree more. The results of plays should reflect what the players actually do, rather than what one guy dressed in blue thinks they did. That’s why we have the challenge system for plays on the field, and it seems to work pretty well. The ABS challenge system that was tried in Spring Training worked well, but per the Athletic article, was only used in about 60 percent of games because many spring parks (including Sloan Park, spring home of the Cubs) didn’t have the technology installed. Here are some of the things they are going over after that spring test:
Once the spring experiment was over, some players were curious about how the ABS strike zone was being called in comparison to the current strike zone. Players asked the league to help clarify the difference by superimposing the ABS zone on the video they view on their dugout iPads, according to sources briefed on the discussions.
The league expects to fulfill that request in the next several weeks, enabling players to see how pitches currently being called in major-league games compare to how they would be called under the new system. The tool could be particularly valuable for veteran players who did not experience ABS in the minors or in spring training.
This is all a good thing, I think. Balls and strikes are often the things players get most upset about when calls are missed. You’re all familiar with the @UmpScorecards social media account, which shows how umpires do with ball and strike calls for each game. Many of them do quite well — but others don’t, and a consistent strike zone would likely benefit both pitchers and hitters.
Here are some comments from MLB’s executive VP of baseball operations Morgan Sword, from the Athletic article:
“We’re now conducting a thorough analysis, including dialogue with players and the competition committee, so that everyone understands what we’re buying into if we choose to do this in the big leagues next season,” said Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations.
“As part of that conversation, I think everyone understands that no system is perfect and never will be, but it might be better than what we have now, and that’s the choice.”
That’s the key to this, I think — to get all the players to buy into a system that isn’t going to be 100 percent perfect all the time, but that gets closer to what the pitchers actually throw, whether ball or strike.
It sounds as if MLB is edging closer to having the ABS challenge system in regular-season games in 2026. I hope so. There are still too many calls that aren’t correct, even if they’re fewer than 10 percent of all calls. Some of them do affect the outcomes of games. Bring it on.
Poll
What should MLB do about balls and strikes?
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Keep things the way they are
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Adopt the ball/strike challenge system
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Go to fully automated ball/strike calls
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Something else (leave in comments)
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