strike challenge will change baseball

Key Points:

• MLB's new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, tested in the minors since 2022 and approved in 2023, allows teams to challenge ball and strike calls with the goal of maintaining human umpiring while improving accuracy.
• ABS standardizes the strike zone to a fixed rectangular shape, eliminating daily umpire variability and potentially increasing offensive production by favoring hitters with more consistent and smaller strike zones.
• Teams have a limited number of challenges per game, adding a strategic layer to when and how to use them, with managers advised to save challenges for high-leverage late-game situations.
• Pitchers rarely use challenges due to their distance from the plate, while catchers and hitters are more likely to initiate them; success rates for challenges can vary based on a player's current performance and strike zone discipline.
• Early minor league data shows ABS leads to more walks, fewer strikeouts, and slightly increased fastball velocity, indicating pitchers must throw more strikes and hitters can be more selective, though the full impact at the major league level remains to be seen.