Yandy Diaz's game-ending check swing is a launching point for ABS Challenge's next evolution

Did Yandy Diaz swing? To end Game 2 of the World Series with a full count and a runner on third of a 5-4 game, the umpires ruled that the Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter indeed went around, giving the Milwaukee Brewers a 2-0 lead early in the best-of-seven series. However, when you look at the replay, it's exceptionally difficult to determine whether or not the perennial All-Star checked his swing or not.

Just based on what we've always seemingly accepted in MLB as a checked swing, I thought Diaz went. But I'm also not 100 percent confident in that assertion, which is the problem. There's no way an umpire down the line could be wholly certain as well, and that's not how a World Series game should be decided. And yet, there's nothing that Diaz or the Rays could do about it. It's game over. However, with the institution of ABS this season, you have to think that this might be what players and teams will be able to challenge next.

Check Swing Challenges already exist in the minor leagues

The idea of MLB teams being able to challenge check swings isn't something new. The Check Swing Challenge system was first tested in the 2024 Arizona Fall League, expanded to the Single-A Florida State League in 2025, and was introduced in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 2026. We're seeing it catch on more with each passing season and, more importantly, with specific rules that will more clearly define what exactly a check swing actually is.

Using Hawk-Eye tracking, the challenge system looks to determine if a batter went to a 45-degree angle — for the layman, that would mean the bat going even with the opposite foul line — and the challenge works the same as ABS in that it can be used by the pitcher, batter or catcher.

But in terms of Yandy Diaz and the Rays, the Check Swing Challenge would be of particular interest because, when you look at the point where he went the furthest in his check swing on the fateful ninth-inning play, it likely would not have been ruled a swing had a challenge system been in place because it doesn't appear that he went 45 degrees with it.

Rays' deserved frustration could push Check Swing Challenge to MLB soon

Especially looking at Rays-Brewers Game 2 and how that ended, that's one of the reason why ABS Challenges have been such a success in MLB. It gives players and, by proxy, teams a bit of power to not be at the mercy of an umpire's discretion with no guardrails in place. While the limited number of challenges — which is a good rule, it should be said — doesn't completely take the human error out of the game, it does give teams at least an opportunity to not get completely hosed out of a game because an umpire thought a ball was a strike.

However, the fact that a check swing is not privy to the same level of power balance is just plain unfortunate and something that needs to change. And a moment like this on baseball's biggest stage is the type of thing that can bring about such change with a swiftness.

Obviously, the looming potential MLB lockout could complicate matters in regard to how quickly the Check Swing Challenge is brought into the fray at the major-league level, but the fact that it's already expanding its footprint in the minor leagues combined with the success of ABS in the majors means that it might only be a matter of time before we see it at the highest level of the sport.

Unfortunately, it's not here yet and Diaz and the Rays had to pay the price as a result of it. Even if you're a Brewers fan, that's not how anyone wants to see a World Series game be decided. And with this type of controversy and the system already implemented in the minor leagues, it might only be a matter of time before this controversy and similar ones are truly a thing of the past.

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