The automated balls and strikes (ABS) challenge system has recorded 1,050 challenges this season with a 54% success rate. As teams adapt, ABS is becoming a routine part of baseball games.
Key points
ABS challenge system has recorded 1,050 challenges this season
Success rate of the ABS challenges is 54%
Roughly 1.4% of pitches have been challenged
Teams average 4.05 challenges per game
Umpires' performance is reportedly improving
Los Angeles Dodgers
abs-getty-1.png
Getty Images
Three weeks into the season, baseball's new automated balls and strikes (ABS) challenge system has begun to fade into the background. You couldn't not notice it that first weekend. It was new and exciting, and the crowd popped whenever a challenge went the home team's way. Now ABS is becoming just part of the game. It's routine.
Entering Wednesday, there were 1,050 ABS challenges this season with a 54% success rate, so a touch better than 50/50. Roughly one out of every 74 pitches has been challenged, or 1.4%. That mark comes out to 2.6% of all ball/strike calls, or one every 39. The league is averaging 4.05 challenges per game. (Each team gets two challenges per game and keeps it if they're successful.)
"I do think that it makes the umpires (bear down). The umpiring, for me, is getting better. No one wants to be embarrassed, and so they bear down more, and I think that's better for the game," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on "The Dan Patrick Show" last week. "You don't want to lose a human element with the umpires, which they get defensive of, which I get, but I think at the end of the day, people want to get the calls right, and that's what the integrity of the game should be."
Now that we've all seen ABS challenges in action and have grown familiar with them, let's dig into the numbers and see who is the best and worst at it, and what challenges have done for the league as a whole.
ABS challenge breakdown
Roughly 54% of those 1,050 challenges have been made by catchers, who are the most successful challengers by a good margin. That makes sense, right? They have the best vantage point directly behind home plate. Here's how those 1,050 challenges break down:
Challenges
Success rate
Q&A
What is the success rate of the ABS challenge system in baseball?
The ABS challenge system has a success rate of 54% so far this season.
How many ABS challenges have been made in the current baseball season?
There have been 1,050 ABS challenges made this season.
Which MLB teams are using the ABS challenge system?
All MLB teams are using the ABS challenge system as part of the new rules this season.
How does the ABS system affect umpiring in baseball?
The ABS system encourages umpires to perform better, as they aim to avoid embarrassment and ensure accurate calls.
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Hitters
475
47%
Catchers
554
60%
Pitchers
21
48%
As the challenge system was tested throughout the minors, pitchers had the lowest success rate. Even after releasing the ball, the pitcher is a good 50-55 feet away from the plate, and he's often still moving as part of his follow-through when the ball reaches the plate. Pitchers are poorly positioned to challenge, so they very rarely do it.
Catchers have the best vantage point and are pretty on the ball (no pun intended) with challenges. Hitters are under the 50/50 break-even line, and, if you've watched even a little baseball this season, you've seen a hitter challenge out of frustration at some point. Those are the challenges teams don't like: a hitter letting his emotions get the best of him. Catchers don't seem to have that problem.
Best and worst teams
Like everything else in this game, some teams are better at ABS challenges than others. The surprising Twins have shown a real knack for ABS challenges in the early going. Minnesota had challenged 58 pitches entering Wednesday, 10 more than any other team, and their 59% success rate was ninth best. (None of the top eight teams had challenged more than 35 times.)
The Red Sox are the early lagger. They've challenged only 20 pitches, the fewest in baseball, and their 45% success rate is one of the lowest in the game. Boston's catchers are 4 for 9 (45%). There's room for improvement there. Here are the teams that have added (and subtracted) the most value via ABS challenges per Statcast's runs-based metric:
It's still early and, other than the Twins, most of the league is bunched close together. The Guardians and Angels are underwater with their ABS challenges but not alarmingly low (yet). The Twins are far and away the best in the league. Most of the rest of the league is bunched together within a run or so of league average (0.0 runs is average in this metric).
No hitter has challenged more than seven pitches. Iván Herrera of the Cardinals is 5 for 6 (83%) as a hitter. Pete Alonso is a perfect 4 for 4 as a hitter. Those are the most challenges with a 100% success rate. Several hitters are 0 for 3, including Tigers teammates Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson. That is the most challenges without being successful.
On the catching side, White Sox backstop Edgar Quero has challenged 20 pitches, the most in baseball, but he has a 34% success rate (7 for 20). That ain't good. World Series hero Will Smith stands out at 13 for 19 (68%). J.T. Realmuto is a perfect 6 for 6 as a catcher. That means he isn't challenging enough. Only six in three weeks?
League-wide trends
Three weeks into the season, there are some notable league-wide trends that are at least somewhat related to the introduction of the ABS challenge system. Not all of them are good for the game. Here is some of the broader fallout:
Time of game is up. The pitch clock was introduced in 2023 and it immediately chopped 24 minutes off the average time of a nine-inning game. Time of game hovered in the 2:36 to 2:39 range from 2023 to 2025. This year it's up to 2:42. ABS challenges are fairly quick -- they only take about 15-20 seconds -- but there are several per game. It adds up.
Swing rates are down. Perhaps because they're so honed in on the strike zone now, hitters are swinging less often. The league-average swing rate sat in the 47.2% to 47.8% range from 2021 to 2025. It's down to 46.2% this year, which would be the lowest in a full 162-game season since 2014. This too is likely contributing to longer games.
Walks are up. In part because hitters are swinging less, walks have increased. The league-average walk rate is usually 8% to 9% of plate appearances, but it's up at 9.9% this year. That would be the highest since the mound was lowered in 1969. This tracks with what happened in the minors. Walks went up whenever ABS was introduced to a new minor league.
Strikeouts are up too. Not as much as walks, but strikeouts are up too. Hitters have struck out in 22.7% of their plate appearances this year, up from 22.2% last year. The league strikeout rate was last as high as 22.7% in 2023. ABS challenges are flipping counts and hitters are swinging less. More walks and more strikeouts are a natural byproduct of that.
In praise of umpires
I have a take that should not be considered hot: MLB umpires are great at their jobs. They're the best in the world at what they do. Replace the 70-something active umpires with the next best 70-something active umpires, and you would definitely notice, the same way you notice the step down from the 70-something best players to the next 70-something best players.
Umpire David Rackley deserves praise. He's called 1,538 pitches behind the plate this year, second most in baseball, and players are only 5 for 19 in challenges. That's a 26% success rate. Rackley has been, well, on the ball with his ball/strike calls. Will Little and John Tumpane have each called roughly 900 pitches this year. Players are 1 for 10 in challenges against both.
Complaining about umpires is what fans do, I get it, but ABS challenges have given me added appreciation for just how good these guys are at their job. ABS challenges will humble you. A call looks incorrect from the broadcast's center field camera angle, the player challenges it, and nope, the ump got it right. ABS challenges are a tool to help umpires, not embarrass them.
What's next for ABS?
ABS challenges just got here and we're already talking about what's next? Sure, why not? The challenge system is a step toward a fully automated strike zone. I can't lie, watching the challenge system in action these last three weeks, I've caught myself thinking "we have the technology to correct mistake calls, why don't we just use it for every pitch?" I'm sure I'm not alone.
I don't know if we'll get a fully automated strike zone in two years or five years or 20 years, but it's coming. It's inevitable. Keep in mind ABS challenges are basically a big T-Mobile commercial. Challenges are intended to correct mistake calls, yes, but the league has monetized these things. There's a financial component that will be considered when discussing the fully automated zone.
