How are players measured for MLB's ABS system?
Measuring players for ABS is a very precise system. Here's how it works.
Baseball season is officially here and the biggest talking point ahead of the new year has been the implementation of the Automated-Ball Strike system. Tested last year during spring training then fully realized for the 2026 season, ABS will hopefully bring about more accurate calls during at-bats going forward. It's an exciting time for baseball fans and players alike, but the process behind ABS is no simple feat.
In fact, for ABS to work as intended, baseball players need to be precisely measured in order for the calls to be accurate. So, how do players get measured for ABS to work? Well according to MLB.
com , every team was required to take measurements between 10 a. m. and 12 p.
m. local time due to the scientific phenomenon that human bodies shrink over the course of the day . The process also had incredibly specific rules that had to be followed during the measurements, which included: no shoes, no hats, heels together, knees exposed, back against the wall and no slouching.