What is the New ABS System Being Introduced to the MLB?
Automated Ball Strike System, also known as ABS, is what many are calling a robot umpire. While not completely taking over the umpire's job, the ABS system looks to make the game of baseball more precise. The new system is currently being tested and used in spring training games. It allows players to challenge calls made by the umpire with its eagle-eye technology. How exactly does it work though? Will it be overused? Can this type of technology be abused in any way? Questions like these are currently being asked with the future of the sport in mind, and there’s a lot to cover before this system gets introduced to the regular season.
The ABS system tracks every pitch thrown in real-time. It then has the ability to tell us if the pitch entered, or came short, of the strike box. This system can’t be used as a free-for-all. Every pitch thrown can’t be put under review. This is to help ensure that the system isn’t overused or abused during a game. Each team will get two challenges to use and they can call a challenge at any point in the game. If a team wins a challenge then they will still have two remaining challenges left to use. If a team loses a challenge, then they will be brought down to one challenge left to use, and so on. If a team loses a challenge they cannot regain it. Pitchers, catchers, and the batter at the plate are the only ones who are able to call for a challenge. The signal for a challenge will be tapping their hand on their head and it must happen immediately after the pitch.
For the 2025 season, the ABS system will be tested and used during spring training. Both the Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers have started up their spring seasons giving us a look at the system in action. In the first inning, Cubs pitcher Cody Poteet threw a 95 mph fastball to Dodgers batter Max Muncy. The umpire called it a ball, but Poteet believed the pitch was a strike. Tapping his head he signaled for a challenge by the ABS system. Then, in reviewing the tracking of the system, the pitch was determined to be a strike. The call was overturned and changed from a ball to a strike.
The ABS system aims to enhance the accuracy of ball and strike calls and provide players with the opportunity to contest potentially incorrect decisions during the game. It’s all about minimizing human error. The system will run its course through the 2025 spring training season, with it being tested in approximately 60% of spring training games. Each team will have the opportunity to use it this year, and the hope is that in 2026 it will be introduced into the regular season. ABS is a big leap in the technological advances within professional sports, and it is sure to cause quite the stir in the MLB world.
