What D-backs' Win Over Rockies Told Us About ABS Challenge System

The Arizona Diamondbacks jumped right into the action with MLB's new Automatic Balls and Strikes challenge system during their 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday. Catcher Gabriel Moreno successfully executed three challenges —overturning balls to strikes from behind home plate — in the first two innings.

All three turned into eventual punchouts. Two were overturned to become strike three. Moreno did, however, lose one challenge — on a pitch he also fired down to second base.

"This is part of the game. We're all getting used to it," manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. We learned a couple of lessons. [Moreno] explained to me that on the turn going to second base, he thought the ball was more center-cut, and it wasn't.

"So we're going to learn valuable lessons about the ABS system, and that's just one of the first days. We'll log it, have conversations about it, and keep teaching it. But overall, I thought it worked out really well several times in our favor."

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Arizona Diamondbacks Learned Lesson on ABS Challenge System

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) talks to pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) during spring training workouts at Salt River Fields on Feb. 16, 2026, in Scottsdale. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What Friday's experimentation showed was that this system is still raw in terms of its usage by players. While teams, including Arizona, have already begun strategizing the best way to implement it into a gameplan, the only way to get a feel for it fully is to use it aggressively in the early goings.

Lovullo has been adamant about leaving challenges up to the catchers. Moreno's 3-for-4 and backup Matt O'Neill's 1-for-1 likely reinforce that philosophy. As Lovullo has previously stated, pitchers and hitters have a less objective view of the strike zone in the moment — though he did clarify hitters will not be prohibited from making a challenge.

"For right now, between the battery, we're going to allow the catcher to be the one that's going to call for the challenge, and the hitter will be allowed to call for the challenge. Between the pitcher and catcher, we're going to put it in the hands of the catcher, and we're going to see how that works," Lovullo said.

"We talked about if you're 100% and you know catcher or hitter, you can fire and you can go."

But Lovullo does know one thing: he does not want to be left hanging in a late inning, when individual calls can sometimes carry more weight.

"I do not want to be left without a challenge in the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning when the other team has theirs," he said. "We talked about it being a team challenge, a team concept, and you want to try to win innings, not at-bats."

Moreno's unsuccessful challenge was perhaps an inopportune moment to make one. Throwing through to second base provided an extra wrinkle to the perception of the pitch. That may be a situation in which a challenge must be used with more intent going forward, though Moreno told Lovullo he initially thought the pitch was a strike until he saw the replay.

"That was something we learned today. Gabi, he caught the ball in the middle of his chest. That's what he's trained to do. He's done it 10,000 times in practice to square up the ball, middle of your body. So he clearly thought if he caught it here, it was going to be a strike.

"We just need to be situationally aware. But that's tough. That's a tough situation. We're going to keep learning from it."

This is going to be a learning curve for all clubs.