Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The New York Yankees lead the AL East in ABS challenge percentage at 65.5%, outperforming early narratives about their pitchers struggling.
- The Oakland Athletics boast the best ABS percentage in baseball at 73.3%, yet sit at the bottom of the AL West with a 2-6 record.
- Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals are emerging as key teams to watch with high challenge volumes and strong conversion rates.
The Automated Ball-Strike challenge system has been part of MLB life for nine days. Every team has used it. And now there's enough data to start asking the question everyone wants to know: Which teams are actually winning the zone battle?
To find out, we calculated combined ABS challenge percentage for all 30 teams, adding up every overturn each club has earned on both offense and defense and dividing that number by every challenge attempted against them. One number. Both sides of the ledger. Here's how every division shakes out through April 5.
AL East ABS standings
Rank | Team | ABS% | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York Yankees | 65.5% | 7-1 |
2 | Baltimore Orioles | 56.2% | 3-5 |
3 | Boston Red Sox | 53.8% | 2-6 |
4 | Tampa Bay Rays | 50% | 3-5 |
5 | Toronto Blue Jays | 50% | 4-4 |
The New York Yankees lead the AL East in combined ABS percentage at 65.5 percent, converting 19 of 29 total challenges. That number cuts against the popular early narrative that New York's pitchers were getting picked apart by opposing batters in the challenge system. The truth is messier: Yes, opponents have been successful challenging Yankees pitchers at a high rate, but New York's own challengers have been equally sharp, and the combined picture puts them at the top of the division. They're also 7-2, which means none of it particularly matters yet.
The more interesting story in the AL East is at the bottom. Toronto sits at 50 percent in ABS percentage and 4-5 in the standings, which looks fine until you notice they've made 20 combined challenges — the most in the division. Volume without accuracy is a problem. The Blue Jays are using their challenges at a rate that will burn through their edge in any given game faster than anyone else in the division.
Baltimore is worth watching at 56.2 percent. Their catchers have shown real discipline in terms of when to challenge, and the April 1 moment when Samuel Basallo challenged a 1-2 pitch in the ninth inning to end a game against Texas was the first walk-off by ABS challenge in MLB history. That's the kind of high-leverage instinct this system rewards over a full season.
AL Central ABS standings
Rank | Team | ABS% | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kansas City Royals | 70% | 4-4 |
2 | Detroit Tigers | 63.2% | 4-4 |
3 | Minnesota Twins | 57.7% | 3-5 |
4 | Chicago White Sox | 46.2% | 3-5 |
5 | Cleveland Guardians | 40% | 5-3 |
Kansas City leads the AL Central at 70 percent, converting 14 of 20 combined challenges, and presents one of the more interesting profiles in the division. They've been aggressive on both sides, challenged often and been right most of the time. They're 4-5. The ABS system is working for them as well as it's working for anyone in the division, the wins just aren't following yet.
Detroit sits second at 63.2 percent and is also 4-5. The Tigers have been one of the better offensive challenge teams in baseball to date, overturning calls at a high clip, and their combined number reflects that. They're not winning more games than Kansas City despite nearly identical ABS efficiency, which tells you exactly how much weight pitching and run prevention are carrying relative to challenge strategy right now.
Cleveland is the division's starkest outlier. The Guardians lead the AL Central standings at 6-4 and rank last in ABS percentage at 40 percent, converting just 6 of 15 combined challenges. Their 12.5 percent offensive overturn rate on their own attempts is the worst in baseball. They are winning games through pitching and defense that has nothing to do with how they manage the challenge system, and that gap between ABS performance and actual record is the clearest evidence in baseball that nine days is not enough sample for this metric to mean anything in the standings.
AL West ABS standings
Rank | Team | ABS% | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Athletics | 73.3% | 2-6 |
2 | Seattle Mariners | 63.2% | 4-5 |
3 | Texas Rangers | 56.2% | 4-4 |
4 | Houston Astros | 46.7% | 6-3 |
5 | Los Angeles Angels | 27.8% | 4-5 |
The Athletics lead the AL West in ABS percentage at 73.3 percent, tied for the best mark in all of baseball. They've converted 11 of 15 combined challenges. They're also 3-6, the worst record in the division. Oakland is doing one thing extremely well in 2026 and losing anyway, which is the most compressed version of the ABS-standings disconnect you'll find anywhere right now.
Seattle sits second at 63.2 percent and is 4-5. The Mariners' number is notable because their offensive challenge rate has actually been below average, meaning the defensive side is carrying their percentage. Opposing batters and pitchers have not been successful challenging Seattle's called strikes and balls, which is a legitimate competitive advantage — it's just not translating to wins yet.
Houston leads the division in winning percentage at 6-4 and ranks fourth in ABS at 46.7 percent. The Astros have been below the league average in combined challenge efficiency and are still the best team in the AL West. The Los Angeles Angels rank last in the division and last in all of baseball at 27.8 percent, converting just 5 of 18 combined challenges. At some point the inability to identify challengeable calls will compound. Right now at 5-5 the gap is still narrow enough that it's hard to isolate.
NL East ABS standings
Rank | Team | ABS% | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Atlanta Braves | 57.1% | 6-3 |
2 | New York Mets | 53.3% | 5-4 |
3 | Washington Nationals | 46.2% | 3-5 |
4 | Miami Marlins | 41.7% | 5-3 |
5 | Philadelphia Phillies | 40% | 5-3 |
Atlanta leads the NL East in ABS percentage at 57.1 percent and is second in the actual standings at 6-4. The Braves are one of the few teams in baseball where the two metrics point in the same direction this early, though their margin of victory in games has been driven by a lineup that is outscoring opponents by nearly three runs per contest. The ABS edge is real, but the roster is doing the actual work.
The Mets sit second at 53.3 percent and are 5-4. New York has been solid on both sides of the challenge system without being elite on either, which is about what you'd expect from an analytically driven organization still calibrating to a new system in its first week of existence.
Philadelphia (5-4) and Miami (6-4) rank fourth and fifth in ABS percentage at 40.0 percent and 41.7 percent respectively. The Phillies in particular have been poor at converting their own challenges at 50.0 percent, while allowing opponents to get in on the act against their pitchers. They're winning because their rotation and lineup are built to win games by multiple runs, not because the challenge system is helping them.
NL Central ABS standings
Rank | Team | ABS% | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 66.7% | 5-3 |
2 | Cincinnati Reds | 64.7% | 5-3 |
3 | Chicago Cubs | 60% | 3-4 |
4 | St Louis Cardinals | 53.8% | 4-4 |
5 | Milwaukee Brewers | 50% | 6-2 |
Pittsburgh leads the NL Central in ABS percentage at 66.7 percent, which requires some context: The Pirates have made just nine combined challenges, the fewest in the division, so the sample is thin enough that one call going either way would have moved the number significantly. What it does tell you is that when Pittsburgh's players have pulled the trigger on a challenge, they've been right. Whether that reflects genuine zone awareness or a small-sample run of luck is something 30 more games will clarify.
Cincinnati sits right behind at 64.7 percent and is a cleaner story. The Reds have made 17 combined challenges, second-most in the division, and they've converted nearly two-thirds of them. Their 72.7 percent offensive overturn rate on their own attempts leads baseball. The Reds are 6-3 and one of the more legitimate early-season ABS success stories in the league.
Milwaukee leads the division in wins at 7-2 and ranks last in ABS percentage at 50 percent. The Brewers have been exactly average in the challenge system while running the best record in the NL Central. Their run differential is elite. The challenge system is not why they're winning, and a 50 percent combined rate suggests it's not hurting them either. They're just a good baseball team playing good baseball in a way that the ABS system hasn't touched yet.
NL West ABS standings
Rank | Team | ABS% | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 73.3% | 4-5 |
2 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 55.6 | 6-2 |
3 | San Diego Padres | 55.6% | 3-5 |
4 | San Francisco Giants | 54.5% | 3-6 |
5 | Colorado Rockies | 38.5% | 2-6 |
Arizona leads the NL West in ABS percentage at 73.3 percent, tied with Oakland for the best mark in baseball. The Diamondbacks have converted 11 of 15 combined challenges, including a 75 percent rate on their own offensive attempts that is the best in the division. They're 5-5, which follows the pattern we've seen across baseball all week: being elite in the challenge system does not guarantee wins in the first nine days of a 162-game season.
The Dodgers rank second at 55.6 percent and lead the division in winning percentage at 7-2. Los Angeles is the one team in the NL West where ABS efficiency and actual results overlap, though the overlap is more coincidence than causation. Their pitching staff and lineup depth are the reason they're atop the division right now. The challenge system is operating cleanly without adding or subtracting anything meaningful from the equation.
San Diego and San Francisco are separated by just one percentage point at 55.6 percent and 54.5 percent, but they're heading in opposite directions in the standings. The Padres are 4-5 and the Giants are 3-7. Colorado ranks last in the division at 38.5 percent and fourth in the standings at 3-6, making them the one team in the NL West where both measures agree. The Rockies are getting outplayed on the field and outmaneuvered in the challenge booth simultaneously.
What the ABS standings tell us nine days in
The teams leading their divisions in ABS percentage are the Athletics, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks. Their combined record is 28-25. The teams ranked last in their divisions in ABS percentage are the Angels, Guardians, Blue Jays, Phillies, Brewers and Rockies. Their combined record is 26-27. One game separates the best and worst ABS teams in baseball.
That gap will grow. Teams investing coaching resources in challenge preparation, studying umpire tendencies and pitch location patterns are building an edge that compounds over 162 games. Each overturned call shifts run expectancy in ways that matter at the margins. Across a full season, those margins add up. We just can't see them yet.
The teams worth tracking most closely are Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Arizona: three clubs with legitimate volume and strong conversion rates that will tell us the most about whether ABS efficiency is a repeatable skill or early-season noise. Check back at the 30-game mark. The picture will be clearer.