In 2026, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred decided to implement an automated ball and strike system, known as ABS, for all regular season and playoff games. 

With ABS, players can now challenge balls and strikes by simply tapping their helmet or hat. 

Teams get a total of two challenges, but if they are correct, they don’t lose any challenges. 

Since ABS became a permanent rule in Major League Baseball, you can tell the games have gone a lot smoother. 

For example, all of the pitches that you see that are way off the plate get called a strike will no longer happen in 2026 with the new ABS system. 

The main part that I questioned ABS is if it would increase the length of games. 

But an ABS challenge only takes roughly 15 seconds, and players can only initiate a challenge within two seconds of the umpire’s original call. 

With ABS, I have seen some horrible calls get overturned, and that is exactly what Major League Baseball needed. No more losing games on bad calls, unless a team is out of their challenges of course. 

Another good part about ABS is that it keeps players accountable. 

So if Bryce Harper wants to cry and complain about a pitch that he thinks is a ball, instead of screaming at the umpire, getting ejected and getting your manager ejected because he can’t control his temper, with just a tap of the helmet, he can challenge the call and get the correct one. 

I’ve noticed a decrease in ejections as well. 

Not as many managers are complaining about the strike zone, which you could argue also wastes time. 

So, for all of the people saying that ABS “wastes time,” what about all of the players that stay on the field complaining about the umpires strike zone? 

Does that not waste time as well? 

Other reasons why I love the ABS system is that MLB stadiums show the ABS challenges on the big screen, so umpires can look at their mistakes, and possibly improve. 

So with ABS, my thinking is that it will improve their performance, and we will eventually not see as many bad calls in the strike zone.  

Another part of the ABS challenge that I love is that it adds a lot of strategy to the game of baseball that we have never seen before. 

For example, players have to strategize when is the correct time to use their challenges. 

They have to decide if they should wait until later in the game, or shoot their shot early in the game. 

You are also not allowed to look into your dugout before you initiate a challenge, so it is entirely up to the players, which I love. 

Catchers will no longer be able to frame pitches and actually get the call to go their way.  

I can understand why catchers would hate the ABS system, but this is not about them, it is about every team getting the correct call on the field.