![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Paul-Skenes-1.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at PNC Park on August 18, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The biggest change that came to the MLB in 2026 has been the installation of the brand-new ABS challenge system.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n While umpires are still the ones calling balls and strikes, the ABS challenge system ensures players can challenge bad calls.<\/p>\n In a new article published on ESPN<\/a> yesterday, MLB stars, including Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> ace Paul Skenes<\/a>, revealed their thoughts on the ABS system after a few weeks of its use.<\/p>\n Paul Skenes says the ABS Zone is Perfect, Others Are Still Getting Used To It<\/p>\n Skenes said so far, he thinks the ABS system has been fair and is working well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Skenes said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s been super one-sided where the pitchers are getting a lot more than the hitters.\u201d<\/p>\n Skenes said he felt the strike zone was perfect, and he would not change it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe strike zone is the strike zone,\u201d Skenes said. \u201cA tenth of an inch inside the zone is still a strike. I wouldn\u2019t change anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Other players are still getting used to ABS. Baltimore Orioles<\/a> catcher Adley Rutschman<\/a> said he\u2019s still trying to figure out the challenge system.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has provided a new aspect in the game,\u201d Rutschman said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a difference. You have to think about right times to challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Athletics\u2019 reliever Mark Leiter<\/a> Jr. said he has found it difficult to determine what is a ball and a strike.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a pitcher, it\u2019s really hard to see the zone sometimes, especially when your visual is how good the catchers are at receiving,\u201d Leiter said. \u201cSo, sometimes it\u2019s hard to see and you don\u2019t want to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n With just two challenges allowed per team, Leiter seems to think that, strategically, it would not make sense for teams to allow for pitchers to challenge calls. That appears to be the strategy the Athletics are taking. Only one A\u2019s pitcher has challenged a call through the team\u2019s first 19 games.<\/p>\n In fact, according to ESPN\u2019s tracking<\/a>, 13 teams have not had a single pitcher challenge a strike. And only three teams<\/a>, the Pirates, Orioles, and Phillies<\/a>, have had multiple calls challenged by a pitcher.<\/p>\n The solution Leiter offered was to give one challenge per game to the starting pitcher and one per game to the bullpen. Presumably, that would be in addition to the two challenges allowed for the lineup or catchers.<\/p>\n Players Applaud Umpires for their Accuracy<\/p>\n The biggest reason for the implementation of the ABS system was to correct bad calls from umpires who made mistakes. However, the players interviewed all seemed to be happy with the quality of their umpires.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when umpires get it right, it\u2019s got to make \u2019em feel good,\u201d said Los Angeles Angels<\/a> catcher Travis d\u2019Arnaud<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s harder than it looks on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n Jared Young<\/a> of the New York Mets<\/a> said the umpires have been accurate so far.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t come up as much as people think,\u201d Young said. \u201cThe umpires still do a very good job.\u201d<\/p>\n Players Say the Fan Interaction Has Been Fun<\/p>\n Another sentiment among the players interviewed was that the ABS system has improved the fan experience.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say the thing I\u2019m most surprised about is the fan interaction,\u201d said Blue Jays<\/a> pitcher Kevin Gausman<\/a>. \u201cSeems like the fans really enjoy telling the umpire whether it was a strike or not a strike.\u201d<\/p>\n Baltimore Orioles reliever Rico Garcia<\/a> echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fans seem to like it. They get loud when a call is overturned or is confirmed,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cIt\u2019s an interaction for them that they\u2019ve never really had.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tLevi Coovert<\/a> Levi Coovert is an experienced sports journalist and writer. He studied Journalism and Media Production at the Murrow School of Communications in Pullman, Washington, where he was also the Editor-in-Chief (and former Sports Editor) of the Daily Evergreen Newspaper. He previously wrote for the Vista in San Diego, and has been published in local newspapers including the Lewiston Tribune. Raised 30 minutes south of Seattle, he considers himself a lifelong fan of the Seahawks and Mariners. More about Levi Coovert<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Pirates\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2402],"tags":[5,4,10,776,64,4297],"class_list":{"0":"post-677239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-pirates","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-pirates","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","13":"tag-pittsburghpirates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116416933784277642","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}