Major League Baseball will implement a challenge system for balls and strikes in the 2026 season after the league’s competition committee voted to usher in the era of robot umpiring. Teams will receive two challenges to dispute calls by the home-plate umpire.
Report: MLB implements ABS for 2026 season
Photo credit: © Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
Sep 24, 2025, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 24, 2025, 06:05 EDT
A much-needed change is coming for the 2026 season.
It was reported on Tuesday that Major League Baseball will implement an automated balls and strikes challenge system for next season. Only seven teams voted against it.
Each team gets two challenges, but don’t lose it if the challenge is successful. Unlike a review, these challenges take less than 30 seconds and can only be called on the field by a batter, pitcher, or catcher. Challenges aren’t always correct either, as Triple-A had a 51% success rate last season.
The challenge system has been around for a while now, with the Atlantic League, an independent league, introducing it in 2019. Its first season in the minor leagues was in Low-A back in 2021, before being commonplace in Triple-A and Double-A in 2023. As for the big leagues, it was used in Spring Training and the All-Star Game. It has been clear for a while that it wasn’t a matter of if, but when ABS would come to Major League Baseball.
There is also a second version of ABS, where balls and strikes are automatically called, and the umpire relays the call. That has been around at the Triple-A and Single-A levels, but it is by far the worst version of ABS.
Last night’s Toronto Blue Jays game against the Boston Red Sox is a prime example of why MLB needs ABS. With the bases loaded and two outs, a 2-2 pitch to George Springer was called a strike, despite it being well outside. This was the next pitch after a blown foul ball call.
In Sunday’s playoff-clinching victory over the Kansas City Royals, two of the four earned runs given up by Blue Jays’ rookie Trey Yesavage came after the umpire squeezed him on not just one, but two borderline pitches, leading to a one-out walk. Had the ABS challenge system been in place, there’s a good chance he would have gotten out of the inning unscathed.
The implementation of ABS is good for everyone. Catchers who frame well, like Alejandro Kirk, are still going to get borderline calls. Moreover, ABS holds umpires accountable, especially on egregious missed calls.
This is a step in the right direction for baseball, and a rule they had to add in this day and age because of the technology they have available.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
Breaking News
- Former Blue Jays top prospect Orelvis Martinez receives non-roster invitation to attend Nationals’ spring training camp
- Blue Jays: Mark Shapiro signs five-year extension
- Exploring George Springer’s future with the Blue Jays beyond 2026
- Which Blue Jays prospect will debut first in 2026?
- Canadian Sean Duncan ranks 77th on MLB Pipeline’s first Top 100 draft-eligible prospects list for 2026