On Tuesday afternoon, Major League Baseball officially announced that the game of baseball would have a new challenge system in place for the 2026 season. A vote of the Joint Competition Committee approved the ABS challenge system (Automatic Ball Strike). That committee is made up of six owners, four current players and one active umpire.
The system will use 12 Hawk-Eye cameras to track the location of each pitch. Each team will get two challenges to start the game. All successful challenges will be retained. Only the batter, pitcher or catcher may challenge a ball/strike call from an umpire. To do so, the player must tap their head and vocalize a challenge. A challenge must be made immediately after a call.
If a game enters extra innings, teams will receive an additional challenge if they do not have one remaining. This continues for each extra inning.
This system has been tested already at the Triple-A level since 2022. MLB also tested it this season in Spring Training and the All-Star Game.
Split reactions from Phillies
From a sampling of Phillies players and personnel, there have been varying opinions on the system. One of the biggest supporters of the system was Manager Rob Thomson.
"I love it and I loved it in Spring Training," said Thomson. "It keeps everyone accountable. It keeps everybody on their toes." He added that he especially liked the additional challenges for extra innings.
Thomson believes the system made everyone on the field more focused on the game. "I thought the umpires were really locked in in spring training. The hitters were really locked in during spring training. I thought it was great."
While he still had to refresh himself on the new rules for next season, veteran starter Aaron Nola also expressed interest in the system.
"I think it's decent for big situations in games," said Nola. "I think a couple calls or a call changes a game sometimes. We've had some this year."
Nola liked the idea of a challenge system but was apprehensive about a full-on automated strike zone. He was concerned that a fully automated zone would give hitters too much of an advantage.
Not every player is excited about the change. When Walker Buelher joined the Phillies from his ramp-up in Triple-A, he expressed a few concerns.
"I think it's inaccurate," said Buelher. "I think in most of the stadiums it's not even actually on the plate." "I think the human element is a huge part of this game."
Buelher also expressed frustrations that veteran pitchers who had earned parts of the plate through years of experience would no longer see any benefit.
Other players like Alec Bohm and Jesús Luzardo were indifferent to the change.
