MLB’s Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System keeps the home-plate umpire’s call as the call on the field, but lets the batter, pitcher, or catcher immediately ask Hawk-Eye to check it. A team starts with two challenges, keeps any that succeed, and loses one when the call is confirmed.
Who can challenge, and how do they do it?
Only the batter, pitcher, or catcher involved in the play may challenge a ball-or-strike call. The player must signal immediately after the call by tapping the helmet or cap. MLB encourages a verbal request as well, but the tap is the official signal. Its 2026 explainer describes the window as roughly two seconds; when a play is still unfolding, a challenge may be made at its end.
A manager, the dugout, or another player cannot initiate a challenge or advise the player to make one. The umpire announces the challenge before the tracking result is shown.
How many challenges does a team get?
Each club begins with two challenges. A successful challenge is retained, while a confirmed call costs the team one. At the start of an extra inning, a team that has run out receives one challenge for that inning. A team that still has one does not get an additional challenge at the inning’s start. MLB’s 2026 explainer details the procedure.
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What does ABS check?
MLB says twelve Hawk-Eye cameras track each pitch. When a player challenges, the tracking system compares the pitch with a two-dimensional rectangle positioned in the middle of home plate. T-Mobile for Business’ Advanced Network Solutions private 5G network supports the system. The umpire announces the result, and an animated graphic appears on the ballpark scoreboard and broadcast.
How the challenge zone is measured
The zone is 17 inches wide, matching home plate. Its vertical boundaries are set for each batter: the top is 53.5% of the player’s measured height and the bottom is 27%. MLB says heights are measured without cleats and certified before a player appears in an MLB game. A pitch counts as a strike if any part of the ball touches any part of the zone.
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This challenge zone is two-dimensional, unlike the traditional three-dimensional rulebook zone. MLB says it uses the middle of the plate because testing at the front edge could count a slow curve that clipped the plate’s front and landed in the dirt as a strike. MLB also says the three-dimensional version tested allowed breaking balls to nick zone edges and produced inconsistency. These are MLB’s explanations for its design choice, not independent findings.
What happens to the rest of the play if a call is overturned?
An overturned pitch call does not automatically reverse every event that happened after it. Umpires consider whether the original call affected how players acted and leave unaffected calls in place.
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For example, on a full-count pitch called a ball while a runner is stealing third, the catcher can challenge. If ABS changes the call to strike and the runner beat the throw, the runner remains safe: the original ball call did not affect the catcher’s ability to throw. The batter is out on the strike.
If a catcher drops a pitch initially called a ball and the challenge changes it to strike three, MLB says the batter is out without needing a tag or force play of the kind that applies to a conventional dropped third strike.
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When is a challenge unavailable, and what if the system fails?
- Challenges are not allowed while a position player is pitching or after a replay review.
- An umpire may deny a late challenge or one aided by defenders, runners, or the dugout.
- If a technical problem occurs, the team keeps its challenge. If reliable operation is not possible, challenges may be paused until the system is available again.
MLB says pitch-location data is delayed, the broadcast strike-zone feed is delayed by a few seconds, and clubs may not use their own ball-tracking systems. MLB also reviews challenge video for suspicious behavior. These safeguards are intended to limit advance access to pitch-location information.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How long does a challenge take, and what do the published figures show?
MLB’s September 2025 announcement estimated that a challenge takes approximately 15 seconds. A separate figure in MLB’s April 2026 explainer reports an average of 13.8 seconds per challenge across 288 Spring Training games in 2025. The two estimates come from different official summaries and describe different contexts.
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For those same 288 Spring Training games in 2025, MLB reported 4.1 challenges per game and a 52.2% overturn rate. It reported a 54.4% success rate for defensive players and 50.0% for hitters. These are MLB-reported trial figures, not independent measures of system accuracy or final results for the 2026 season. Baseball Savant’s ABS Challenge Dashboard shows live 2026 totals, which change over the season.
MLB also reported that 72% of surveyed Spring Training fans said the challenge system had a positive impact on their experience. In a May 2023 survey of Triple-A players and coaches, 60% preferred the challenge format, compared with 24% who favored umpire-called play and 16% who favored full ABS. These are attributed survey results, not independent evaluations.
Why did MLB choose challenges instead of automating every pitch?
MLB describes the challenge format as a way to retain the umpire’s role while allowing a correction in a high-leverage moment. Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. said player preference for the challenge format over technology calling every pitch was a key factor in the decision, and said the approach preserves the umpire’s integral role and the game’s pace and rhythm. Those statements explain MLB’s policy rationale; they are not independent assessments of accuracy or fan impact.
The system followed several years of testing, though MLB’s summaries describe the timeline differently. Its September 2025 announcement says the Florida State League used ABS beginning in 2021, Triple-A tested it in select parks in 2022 and throughout the level from 2023, and the challenge format appeared in Major League Spring Training and the All-Star Game in 2025. MLB’s April 2026 explainer says full ABS was first used in the independent Atlantic League in 2019, the Florida State League began testing the challenge system in 2022, and by the end of 2024 MLB had favored challenges over full automation.
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