Manfred: MLB May Test Automated Strike Zone Challenge System in 2025 Spring Training

Tyler Conway@@jtylerconwayFeatured Columnist IVJuly 16, 2024

Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said automated strike zone challenging may be tested during next year’s spring training.

Manfred added that could lead to potential implementation in MLB for the 2026 season. There has been positive progress in the system used throughout Triple-A baseball since the beginning of last season.

MLB began its experimenting with ball-strike automation in 2019. It’s since expanded into every Triple-A ballpark, with MLB toying with three games per week using the automatic system. The three other games used a challenge system.

MLB sent a memo last month informing Triple-A club that it would no longer be using ABS for all calls. Instead, they would be moving to a challenge system for the rest of the season amid player frustration. In a survey of players and staff, 61 percent said they preferred the challenge system, compared to only 11 percent preferring ABS on every pitch.

“Those who have played with it do have a strong preference for the challenge system over ABS calling every pitch. And that has certainly altered our thinking on where we might be headed,” Manfred said in May.

If and when ABS is implemented in the majors, it would almost certainly be under a challenge system.

The system would work similar to the one used in professional tennis, which relies on umpires to make a call and allows players to challenge when they disagree.