Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Six weeks into the 2026 season, six MLB teams are hurting their chances by completely mismanaging their limited, two-challenge ABS budget.
- Batters for the Brewers, Guardians, and Braves challenge clear strikes, while pitching staffs for the White Sox, Giants, and Nationals fail on ball calls.
- Failing to build real zone awareness wastes a vital strategic resource, meaning teams must adapt quickly or keep burning crucial overturn opportunities.
The ABS challenge is not a gimmick. It is a two-challenge budget that rewards teams who understand where the ball crosses the plate and punishes teams who do not. Six weeks into the 2026 season, six organizations have made it clear they do not yet understand it.
The problem splits into two categories. Three batting lineups are challenging strike calls they have no business disputing. Three pitching staffs are challenging ball calls the system keeps confirming. The root causes are different. The cost is the same.
Which MLB hitters are wasting the most ABS challenges in 2026?
Team | Challenges | Won% | MLB Record |
|---|---|---|---|
Brewers | 34 | 32% | 27-18 |
Guardians | 55 | 36% | 27-22 |
Braves | 45 | 40% | 32-16 |
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers batters do not know the strike zone like they should. They have challenged 34 strike calls and won only 32 percent of those challenges. One strikeout flipped all season. The model says the pitches they are disputing are not close calls, which means this is not bad luck. It is a misread of the zone happening repeatedly with no correction in sight.
Eleven players on the Brewers' roster have challenged a strike call as batters this season. Of those 11, five have been successful.
Cleveland Guardians
Cleveland batters have challenged 55 strike calls and won only 36 percent of them. The volume makes this worse. This is not a team that challenges cautiously and occasionally gets it wrong. This is a team challenging aggressively, more than almost anyone in baseball, and losing consistently. Four strikeout flips across 55 attempts is almost nothing to show for that budget.
Much like the Brewers, the Guardians have had 14 batters challenge strike calls. Ten batters have been successful at least once, with Rhys Hoskins leading all batters with four wins.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves batters have challenged 45 strike calls and won only 40 percent. Ten strikeout flips is the most of any team on this list, which means the upside is real when they read it right. The problem is they are reading it wrong 60 percent of the time, and at 45 challenges, that adds up to a significant drain on a two-challenge budget.
Again, eleven batters have challenged for the Braves. Every one of them has won a challenge at least once. Ronald Acuña Jr. leads with 11 challenges requested and 4 wins.
Which MLB catching staffs are failing the ABS challenge test in 2026?
Team | Challenges | Won % | MLB Record |
|---|---|---|---|
White Sox | 76 | 43% | 24-23 |
Giants | 47 | 47% | 20-28 |
Nationals | 48 | 48% | 23-25 |
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox catchers and pitchers are not zone-aware enough when it matters. In 76 ball calls they believed were strikes, only 33 have been overturned for a winning percentage of 43 percent. That is the most challenges of any team on this list and the worst win rate. Seven strikeout flips gained all season across 76 attempts. The problem at the individual level with Edgar Quero has been documented. The team data confirms it goes beyond one catcher.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants catchers and pitchers have challenged 47 ball calls they believed were strikes and won only 47 percent of them. Twenty-two successful overturns on 47 attempts. Four strikeout flips. When a fielding team challenges at nearly coin-flip rates, it means their reads on where the ball crosses the plate are not meaningfully better than a guess.
Washington Nationals
The Nationals catchers and pitchers have challenged 48 ball calls they believed were strikes and won only 48 percent of them. Twenty-three successful overturns. Four strikeout flips. Nearly half of every challenge they throw out is confirmed by the system. At that rate, the challenge is not a strategic tool. It is a prayer.
What the data is really saying
Across all of baseball, catchers and pitchers win their challenges at a significantly higher rate than batters in almost every situation. The fielding side has a structural advantage because catchers track the pitch from release and have a cleaner read on where it crosses the plate than a hitter reacting to a called strike.
The three batting teams on this list are failing at something the rest of the league has largely figured out. The three fielding teams are underperforming a group that already has the advantage.
Both problems are correctable. The zone does not move. Teams that build genuine ABS awareness into their preparation will get that resource back. The six teams on this list have not done that yet.
Data: Baseball Savant 2026 ABS Challenge team splits. May 2026.
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