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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →In MLB, challenge an umpire’s call when the play is eligible for review, there is a credible reason to think the ruling is wrong, and changing it could matter to the inning or game. The key first step is identifying the system: a manager challenges certain plays through traditional replay, while a batter, pitcher, or catcher challenges a called ball or strike through MLB’s ABS system, introduced for the 2026 season.
First, identify which challenge system applies
In MLB, “challenge” can refer to two different procedures. A manager’s traditional replay challenge applies only to listed reviewable plays. An ABS challenge reviews a plate umpire’s ball-or-strike call and must be requested by a player at the plate, not by the manager. The procedures have different eligibility, timing, and challenge supplies.
| Decision factor | Traditional replay | ABS ball/strike |
|---|---|---|
| Who initiates | Manager; a crew chief may initiate certain reviews | Batter, pitcher, or catcher; not the manager |
| What is eligible | Listed reviewable calls, including certain tag and force plays, boundary calls, catches, and baserunning calls | A called ball or strike, subject to system rules |
| Timing | Manager signals immediately after the play and has 15 seconds after the umpire starts the timer to decide | Player challenges immediately after the call; MLB’s 2026 explainer describes a roughly two-second window |
| Starting supply | One challenge in an ordinary game; two in an All-Star or postseason game | Two per team at the start of the game |
| When a challenge is retained | If at least one challenged call is overturned | If the challenge succeeds |
| Basis for review | Video review; changing the call requires clear and convincing evidence | Tracked pitch location compared with the batter’s defined ABS zone |
Sources: MLB’s manager challenge rules, MLB’s replay review rules, and its 2026 ABS explainer.
When to use a traditional manager replay challenge
Check that the call is reviewable
Traditional replay is not a general appeal for any disputed ruling. MLB lists eligible categories that include potential home runs and specified boundary calls, some fair-or-foul calls, force and tag plays, outfield catch-or-drop decisions, and certain baserunning questions, such as whether a runner touched a base or scored before a third out. The MLB replay review rules describe the eligible calls and review process.
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Signal promptly, then make a specific decision
The manager must immediately signal that a challenge is being considered. Once the umpire starts the timer, the manager has 15 seconds to decide and must identify the specific call to be reviewed. A club retains its challenge if at least one challenged call is overturned; if none is overturned, it loses the challenge. Each club begins an ordinary game with one manager challenge and an All-Star or postseason game with two, according to MLB’s manager challenge rules.
Consider whether video can change the ruling
A replay challenge is most useful when the play’s geometry or available video gives a strong basis to believe the call was wrong. Review turns on whether there is clear and convincing evidence to change the call; if the evidence does not meet that standard, the call can be confirmed or allowed to stand. A play can look close and still be a poor challenge if the available evidence is unlikely to meet that threshold.
When a player should challenge an ABS ball-or-strike call
For MLB play beginning in 2026, the batter, pitcher, or catcher can immediately challenge a called ball or strike by tapping the cap or helmet; MLB encourages the player to vocalize the challenge as well. The manager cannot make this challenge. It must be immediate and cannot be prompted or assisted by the dugout or other players. MLB’s ABS explainer says a successful challenge is retained, while a confirmed call costs the team that challenge. Each team starts with two. A team that enters an extra inning with none receives one for that inning.
The 2026 system compares a pitch with a two-dimensional zone centered on home plate. MLB’s September 23, 2025 announcement described the zone as 17 inches wide, with its top and bottom adjusted to the batter’s height: 53.5% of height at the top and 27% at the bottom. The announcement described 12 Hawk-Eye cameras and a challenge-result graphic. Exact system mechanics can change, so consult MLB’s current materials when applying the rules in a later season: MLB’s September 23, 2025 ABS announcement.
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A practical framework for deciding whether to challenge
- Confirm eligibility and timing. Determine whether the call belongs to manager replay or ABS, who is allowed to initiate the challenge, and whether the relevant window is still open. Use the manager challenge rules, replay review rules, or ABS rules as appropriate.
- Estimate how likely the ruling is to change. For replay, weigh the play’s geometry and permitted video or team information against the clear-and-convincing-evidence standard. For ABS, the player’s immediate view and confidence matter because the player has to decide at once. A call being close, by itself, is not a reason to challenge.
- Work out what an overturn changes. Consider the effect on outs, runs, bases, the count, or which hitter or runner is involved. The same degree of uncertainty can justify a challenge when an overturned call could end an inning or change a scoring opportunity, but not when the effect on the game is small.
- Factor in the remaining supply and the inning. A failed challenge can remove a later option, while a successful one may be retained. Keep the systems’ rules separate: manager replay challenges and ABS challenges have different starting allotments, and ABS has its own extra-inning provision.
- Require more certainty when immediate stakes are low. MLB cautions against spending an ABS challenge in a low-leverage spot when it may be more valuable later. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss put the principle this way in a 2026 Associated Press report: “the lower the leverage, the more certainty you have to have.” It is a strategic rule of thumb, not an official MLB formula.
MLB does not prescribe a universal numeric leverage, run-value, or win-probability threshold for challenging. The decision depends on the game state, the consequences of an overturn, the team’s remaining options, and how confident the challenger can be within the applicable procedure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What challenge statistics do—and do not—show
In its 2026 ABS explainer, MLB reported that during 288 Spring Training games using ABS in 2025, teams averaged 4.1 challenges per game and each challenge took an average of 13.8 seconds. MLB estimated that challenges added about 57 seconds to the average game in that test. These are 2025 test figures, not current-season results.
An Associated Press 2026 season report gave an in-season snapshot of 10,557 ABS challenges, or 4.35 per game, with 5,686 overturned decisions. It reported success rates of 59% for catchers, 49% for batters, and 40% for pitchers. Those figures reflect that season’s challenges and different player roles and volumes; they are not guaranteed odds for an individual decision.
The same AP report counted 1,294 traditional team replay challenges in 2026 and reported a 52.9% success rate, compared with 54.8% in 2025, 53.7% in 2024, and 48.5% in 2023. These replay figures measure a different system from ABS challenges. See the Associated Press 2026 season report for its figures and context.
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Who can initiate a review without a manager challenge?
A crew chief may initiate certain replay reviews. MLB says a crew chief may review a potential home run call at any time, and beginning in the eighth inning may review any reviewable call on the chief’s own initiative or at a manager’s request when that manager has no challenges remaining. This is a separate replay procedure, not a reason to treat every disputed call as challengeable.
For current-season mechanics, consult MLB’s manager challenge glossary, replay review glossary, ABS explainer, and Baseball Savant’s ABS Challenge Dashboard and Instant Replay Database. MLB’s 2026 ABS rules and system mechanics should be checked again before relying on them for later seasons.
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