Austin Wells Quickly Lost All of Yankees’ ABS Challenges in First Spring Training Game

The Yankees’ catcher wasn’t shy to call for ABS challenges at the first opportunity.

Austin Wells had two unsuccessful ABS challenges | Screengrab via @talkinyanks on X

With the start of spring training games, the reality of Major League Baseball’s new Automated Ball-Strike challenge system has officially arrived.

The Orioles and Yankees kicked off the action Friday, with the first ABS challenge called by Baltimore’s Colton Cowser in the second inning. The called strike was upheld after a brief review which was only the start of the challenges made over the game.

Yankees catcher Austin Wells won his first ABS challenge which seemingly gave him some confidence with the new system. The next time around, however, he challenged a pitch that was well low of the strike zone. That call was quickly upheld to no surprise.

Austin Wells loses a challenge for the Yankees

The automated ball-strike system will be used during the season for the first time ever pic.twitter.com/F9oupf3afI

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) February 20, 2026

The bad read left the Yankees with one challenge the rest of the way. Wells challenged another pitch the next inning, which the ABS system ruled was just over two inches high and correctly ruled a ball. Since each team receives two challenges per game and can retain a challenge if it’s ultimately successful, Wells’s second unsuccessful challenge of the game left the Yankees with none remaining in the fifth inning.

Yankees are out of challenges as Austin Wells loses the two of them in back-to-back innings

This challenge took 40 seconds https://t.co/V7wHFlGJkj pic.twitter.com/kSQnFnzRYH

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) February 20, 2026

MLB games will look different in 2026 with ABS challenges which can only be requested by a catcher, pitcher or batter without any help from the coaching staff or other players. The challenge system was tested in the minor leagues and in roughly 60% of spring training games last year, leaving players with this spring as a testing period to fine tune their umpire skills before Opening Day.

The first challenge that Wells lost was especially bad, well low of the zone. He has plenty of time to work on his challenge decisions before the Yankees open their season March 25 against the Giants, though.

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