{"id":663424,"date":"2026-04-04T21:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663424\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T21:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:13:15","slug":"the-twins-are-the-early-kings-of-mlbs-new-abs-challenge-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663424\/","title":{"rendered":"The Twins are the Early Kings of MLB’s New ABS Challenge System"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Twins may be off to an unremarkable 3-4 start to the 2026 season, but they lead all of Major League Baseball in one brand new statistical department. A week and change into the season, no one has had more successful ABS challenges than Minnesota \u2014 and it’s not particularly close.<\/p>\n

Prior to Saturday’s games, the Twins led all of baseball with 28 challenges, ten more than any other team. 19 of them have been successful, which also leads the league. The Yankees are in second place in both categories, with 18 challenges and 13 successful overturns. The Twins’ 68 percent success rate ranks seventh, which is impressive given their volume.<\/p>\n

Another way to look at the Twins’ combination of volume and success is that they lead MLB in both challenges and overturns by both batters and catchers\/pitchers. Twins hitters have gone 10 of 14 on challenges at the plate, with two of the misses coming from Matt Wallner (including one awful one<\/a>). Twins catchers, led by Ryan Jeffers, have gone 9 of 14 on challenges.<\/p>\n

The Twins haven’t been afraid to take advantage of baseball’s newest rule, and it’s worked out well for them so far. If they continue to have this kind of success with the ABS system, it could be a difference-maker over the course of a 162-game season.<\/p>\n

ABS Challenges So Far:<\/p>\n

28 Minnesota Twins \ud83d\ude2e
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18 New York Yankees
17 Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves
16 Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox
15 Baltimore Orioles, Athletics
14 Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays
13\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

This chart was prior to Friday’s games:<\/p>\n

ABS challenges as of today<\/p>\n

The Yankees, Orioles, and Twins seem to be utilizing the challenge system the best, while the Guardians, Cardinals, and Nationals seem to be unsuccessful when they challenge pic.twitter.com\/Wn6uVpaxbZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Past The Eye Test (@PastTheEyeTest) April 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s hard to argue that the introduction of the ABS challenge system in MLB has been anything other than a smash hit thus far. Most importantly, it reduces the amount of incorrect ball\/strike calls that impact games, which is something everyone wants.<\/p>\n

It also has brought in an entirely new element of skill and strategy to the game. How well do batters, catchers, or even pitchers know the official strike zone? And with each borderline pitch, how do they weigh the risk-reward equation when deciding \u2014 within a couple seconds \u2014 whether or not to challenge? The downside of wasting a challenge early in the game may not be worth it, but every potential overturn could matter to an at-bat, an inning, and a game.<\/p>\n

The current system, in which teams get unlimited successful challenges but lose the ability to challenge after two unsuccessful tries, feels pretty perfect. The home plate umpire still has a role, and the onus falls onto any player who believes a call was wrong to test if they’re right. It’ll be interesting to see how long the league sticks with this system, with the eventual possibility of going to a fully-automated strike zone.<\/p>\n

It’s still extremely early in the 2026 season, of course. But so far, Derek Shelton’s Twins are the kings of the ABS challenge.<\/p>\n