ABS is so good it makes you wonder what took MLB so long
Forget robot umps. ABS is so much better.
It feels good to get it right. “It” in this case being balls and strikes. MLB’s new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System is helping to make those calls more right than ever.
It makes you wonder what took so long to implement it. It’s not like fans haven’t been calling for robot-umps for years . The answer, of course, is it needed to be tested in the minors first.
A process that began all the way back in 2019 when the Atlantic League first used ABS, followed by the Florida League in 2022 and Triple-A in 2023 and 2024 before full ABS was ditched for a challenge system in 2025. And as we're all learning now, that pivot was the right call. Because instead of replacing umpires completely, ABS is only there when most needed.
Players have to be strategic in how they use it, or risk exhausting their team's challenges. Which adds another fun game within the game. That’s not to speak of umpires having to immediately face the music in the midst of a bad day.