Detroit Tigers Will Have ABS Challenge System During Spring Training Games

The Detroit Tigers will be one of 13 teams who will have the automatic ball-strike challenge system this spring.

Detroit Tigers hat and glove | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

There will be a new addition to Publix Field at Joker Merchant Stadium in Bradenton, FL, the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers.

The robot umpires will be implemented for their spring games.

OK, not exactly robots parked behind the catcher, but ABS – the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge system.

The Tigers will be one of 13 MLB clubs to implement the system per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.

This is the same system that has been used in the minors in the past which will continue in 2025.

The league is testing out the system at the big-league level for the first time after years of experimenting with ABS in the minor leagues. The rules are as follows:

• During the spring, each team will be given two challenges per game and will retain successful challenges.
• Only the batter, catcher or pitcher can initiate a challenge, which must happen immediately after the umpire's call. The player must quickly tap his hat or helmet to indicate a challenge.
• The results of the challenge will be displayed on the scoreboard and television broadcast to communicate whether a call was overturned or not.

Inconsistent strike zones can lead to epic meltdowns in the past.

Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press spoke to A.J. Hinch about the implementation of ABS.

“I think 24 of our (spring training) games are going to have the ABS challenge system, so we will get a front row seat at that,” the skipper said. “At the end of the day, we're trying to find a way to get a universal strike zone, which is really hard when you have different sets of eyes on the strike zone every night. We'll see how we can adapt to it. I'm always open to trying new things and seeing how it impacts our players.”

Umpires are not perfect, and some are better than others.

This idea that balls and strikes have to be called perfectly has started to go down the wrong path a few years as technology developed and the magic yellow rectangle appeared on everyone’s television screen.

The addition of Hawk-eye cameras in every ballpark began to change everything when every bit of data could be collected from every pitch. With this data, umpires began getting graded.

Most would say, this is a good thing, being accurate normally is, but it takes away one of the nuances of the game. The umpires are now more worries about being “correct” than calling the game properly.

It will be interesting to see how things play out during the spring.

Like Hinch said, Detroit is going to get a front-row seat to see how this actually works, and their fans who travel down to Florida will also get to experience the system.