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MLB Unveils New Challenge System Involving Robot Umpires for Spring Training

The robot umpire experiment will come with a new set of challenge rules in this year's spring training.

Liam McKeone

MLB will be using robot umpires in spring training this year
MLB will be using robot umpires in spring training this year / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

This year's MLB spring training could prove more consequential than any in years past as MLB will experiment with ABS, the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, to ensure the home plate umpire gets as many ball and strike calls correct as possible. On Thursday, the league announced how exactly this new challenge system will unfold.

Teams will have two challenges each at the beginning of each game. They are permitted to use a challenge whenever they'd like to challenge a ball or strike call; the ABS, or the robot umpires, will determine whether the pitch was indeed a ball or a strike. A successful challenge will change the call and teams will be able to keep the challenge. A failed attempt, though, forces a team to lose a challenge.

There are some particulars involved, too. Only the batter, pitcher, or catcher can institute a challenge. The challenge must be made immediately after the call without any assistance from the dugout. Then a graphic will come up on the broadcast and on the big board of the stadium announcing whether the pitch was a ball or a strike.

It'll take some getting used to but it should serve as a very interesting stretch for the future of baseball.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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