It only takes one missed call to change a game. A borderline pitch called a ball, a walk instead of a strikeout, or an inning that should have never been continued. That reality is exactly why Major League Baseball is turning to the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS).
For years, inconsistency behind the plate has been accepted as part of baseball. Some umpires have tighter zones, others give pitchers the corners, and players are expected to adjust on the fly.
Despite a 162 game season, those inconsistencies pile up. One missed strike can turn into a walk, extend an inning or completely shift momentum. For teams fighting for playoff spots, that’s not just frustrating, it’s costly. ABS fixes that by creating a consistent strike zone.
A clear example came in the 2019 National League Division Series, where the Washington Nationals were facing the Houston Astros in a pivotal Game 5. In the seventh inning, with two outs and runners on, Nationals hitter Victor Robles took a pitch that was visibly outside the strike zone. Instead of a ball that would have extended the inning and brought the tying run to the plate, home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called it strike three.
That one call ended the inning and killed a potential rally in a high stakes postseason game. In a moment where every pitch matters, a missed strike didn’t just affect the count, it ended the inning and took the bat out of the Nationals hands.
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Pitchers don’t have to waste time figuring out umpires, they can just go right after hitters. Hitters don’t have to guess if a pitch on the corner will be called a strike or not.
Instead of completely replacing umpires, each team gets two challenges per game and only the pitcher, catcher or hitter can call for one. It needs to happen immediately, no looking over to the dug out, no delays. If the challenge is successful, the call is overturned and the team keeps it. If not, they lose it. It’s quick, it’s simple and it adds consistency to the game.
This new system does not come without its criticism. Catchers are one of the few parties that could be negatively affected by this new system. For years, framing pitches has been one of the most underrated, but valuable skills in the game, and some of the best catchers have made careers out of stealing strikes on the corner of the plate.
Patrick Bailey, the catcher for the San Francisco Giants, built his reputation on quietly turning borderline pitches into strikes and saving his team runs in the process. At the same time, framing has always depended on influencing the umpire, not the actual pitch location. Taking the umpire out of the equation puts the focus back on what really matters: Where the ball actually crosses the plate.
Umpires aren’t exactly thrilled about this either. ABS directly challenges their calls in real time and in some cases puts their mistakes on full display for hundreds of thousands of people to see. That’s a tough adjustment for a position that has always been built on authority and control of the game.
In a 2026 spring training game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox, multiple calls were overturned in succession by ABS, with the broadcast crew highlighting that pitches initially called balls were actually “right down the middle”
For many long-time baseball fans, the game’s charm has always been tied to its imperfections; the arguments, the emotion and even the occasional blown call.
Debating balls and strikes, questioning an umpire’s zone and watching those moments unfold have been a part of the sports’ identity for decades. For them, ABS doesn’t just change how calls are made, it changes the rhythm and feel of the game they’ve grown up with.
Baseball is always going to change, and not every change is immediately accepted. That was the case with the pitch clock, and now with the ABS system. This change is aimed at fixing a real problem. Games shouldn’t come down to missed calls, and players shouldn’t have to deal with a strike zone that can change from night to night.
ABS isn’t ruining baseball, it’s cleaning it up. It makes the game more fair, consistent and watchable. It might take some getting used to, and not everyone will love it, but in the long run, it’s making the game better. That’s something baseball can’t keep affording to ignore.
