Instant reactions to the MLB automated ball-strike challenge system after Opening Day

In the time that it took me to throw Winnie’s toy, for her to sprint across the room, and then for her to bring the toy back to me, the Arizona Diamondbacks successfully challenged and overturned a strike call against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.

Winnie might be fast, but the automated ball-strike challenge system might be faster. We saw several instances of the ABS system on Opening Day, with Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez making MLB history when he successfully helped overturn a pitch that flipped an Oneil Cruz walk into a called strike three in New York’s 11–7 victory over the Pirates.

We’re only 12 games into the ABS system, counting Wednesday’s Yankees–Giants clash, and I’ve already seen enough to say that this is one of my favorite rule changes in recent years.

What I love about the MLB ABS challenge system

First off, I cannot stress enough how the league mastered the time needed to overturn or uphold a call. The process takes less than a minute, and there are no prolonged pauses while the umpires look at every possible angle. Instead, it’s just as simple as we’ve been told it would be: the umpires look at a strike zone graphic and determine where the pitch actually landed.

According to ESPN, teams went 19-of-31 on challenges through the first 12 games. The Red Sox won two of their three challenges in Thursday’s 3–0 victory over the Reds, including an overturned ball against Reds designated hitter Eugenio Suárez. Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez immediately challenged a 2–2 pitch in the fourth inning, and a potential walk instead became an inning-ending strikeout.

“He made a really good pitch right there,” Suárez said of Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet. “I thought it stayed down, and it was a ball, but with the new ABS, good for him.”

We can say whatever we want about Rob Manfred’s overall performance as commissioner, but it’s hard to deny that the league has continued making exceptional progress in pace of play. Last year marked the first time in four decades that the average game lasted 2:40 or shorter. The days of your average Yankees game starting at 7:05 p.m. ET and ending around 10:35 p.m. are thankfully long gone.

I’m curious to see if we see any strategic trends about when teams opt to challenge pitches. Will they prefer to save their challenges for the later innings, even if a pitcher has runners on first and second in the fourth inning? Does it make more sense to only use challenges against elite players like Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani?

Long-term concerns about the MLB ABS challenge system

My fear with the ABS system, especially ahead of a new collective bargaining agreement, is that the league will make things unnecessarily complicated. The current system is basic and should work. We don’t need teams having, say, five challenges throughout a game, or a rule dictating that they can only challenge pitches starting in the seventh inning.

While there aren’t any credible reports of the league considering those changes, the ultimate goal should be an ABS system that calls every pitch automatically. The KBO League in South Korea began doing so last year, and I suggest that Major League Baseball eventually follow.

The Umpire Scorecards X account found that Bill Miller, who served as the home-plate umpire during Wednesday’s Yankees–Giants game, correctly called 90.7% of the 140 pitches he saw. According to Umpire Scorecards, 81 umpires worked at least 20 games behind the plate last season, with the average accuracy rate being roughly 94.25%.

Imagine if teams had the opportunity to challenge the 12 pitches that Miller got wrong. Then, think about what would have happened had Miller missed 20 calls. Veteran umpire CB Bucknor had a game last summer where he missed 28 pitches. That alone is reason enough to just let the technology do all the work.

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