MLB Officially Announces ABS Pitch Challenge System Coming For 2026 Season

It's long been rumored that Major League Baseball would bring the automated ball and strike system to the highest level of professional baseball after years of testing in the minor leagues. 

And on Tuesday, the league announced that the biggest change to umpiring in MLB is officially on its way. Robo umps will be in effect to start the 2026 regular season, providing an opportunity for players to challenge some of the most egregious missed calls by the home plate umpire. 

"The previous rule changes that have been adopted by the Joint Competition Committee have had staying power and created momentum for the game," said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement announcing the change. "We used the same process with ABS that started with listening to fans, conducting extensive testing at the Minor League level, and trying at every step to make the game better. Throughout this process we have worked on deploying the system in a way that’s acceptable to players. The strong preference from players for the Challenge format over using the technology to call every pitch was a key factor in determining the system we are announcing today."

Detailed view of the Jumbotron during an automated ball-strike challenge aka ABS during a Seattle Mariners game against the Cleveland Guardians in a spring training game at Peoria Sports Complex. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ABS System Will Bring Major Changes To MLB Moving Forward

The system was tested in spring training, with generally positive reviews. Though some players have maintained they'd prefer to have human umpires make all the calls without the potential for challenges.

MLB's implementation will come with several restrictions and caveats for next year and beyond: 

• Each team will receive two challenges to start the game, and successful challenges allow for an additional one to be made
• For extra inning games, teams with no available challenges will be awarded one per inning. Those that have a challenge remaining entering the 10th do not get an additional one.
• The system will be in place for the 2026 postseason
• Only the hitter, the pitcher, or the catcher can issue a challenge. They can't request help from the dugout or from any coaches. Challenges must be made immediately after the pitch.
• As in spring training, challenges will be made by a tap on the hat or helmet
• All challenges will be displayed on team video boards, based on the Hawkeye system
• Given the success rate, which hovers around 50%, there were an average of 4.1 challenges per game in spring training, which added 13.8 seconds to overall game times

Per the league, defensive players, pitchers and catchers, were actually more successful at having calls overturned than hitters. And interestingly, the success rate declines over time throughout the game. Likely as a result of players choosing to use their challenges as the game nears the ninth inning instead of waiting for an obvious missed call.

This is obviously going to have major implications moving forward. Some egregious missed calls will be corrected, an obvious benefit. Then there's going to be an entirely new strategic element to how challenges are allocated. Will rookie hitters be allowed to make challenges? Or rookie pitchers and catchers? Do you risk challenges early in the game, or hope to wait for more high leverage moments? 

That big strikeout to end an inning? Fans will now have to watch to see if the hitter taps the helmet and watch the video board. The questionable ball four call that walks in a run? Wait to see if the pitcher or catcher want to challenge before putting that run up. 

The challenge system on other, on-field umpiring calls has become an accepted part of the game. It's likely this will quickly become that too. But there's no doubt there's going to be an adjustment period. At worst, it'll be fun to watch how it plays out.