MLB to Implement Challenge System for Balls and Strikes Ahead of 2026 Season

We're moving closer to robot umpires in Major League Baseball.

MLB will have a challenge system in place for balls and strikes next season. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Some welcome news has come across Major League Baseball ahead of the postseason.

As announced by the league on Tuesday, MLB is set to officially implement an Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) beginning next season. Each team will receive two challenges per game that they can use to dispute calls made by the home plate umpire.

BREAKING: Major League Baseball will use the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) during the entire 2026 season

ABS CHALLENGE RULES:

- Each team will get two challenges and can keep them if they're successful

- Challenges can only be initiated by a pitcher, catcher, or… pic.twitter.com/xHkRIbHrRx

— MLB (@MLB) September 23, 2025

ABS was used by MLB this past Spring Training and received rave reviews. The league will now carry it into the 2026 regular season with the same format, allowing pitchers, catchers, or batters to challenge a call after a pitch is made—with no help from the dugout or other players on the field allowed. If a challenge is ruled successful, the team will then keep said challenge.

While the rule change is likely not a direct correlation, Monday night's game between the Brewers and Padres—one with major playoff implications—saw home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz miss 25 calls as San Diego punched their ticket back to the postseason.

With ABS in place in 2026, we will no longer see such a travesty.

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