MLB Could Test Automated Strike Zone Challenge System During 2025 Spring Training

Rob Manfred says the ABS challenge system could be coming to MLB.

Feb 15, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; MLB commissioner Rob Manfred talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball may be inching closer to using an automated strike zone.

On Tuesday during his All-Star game press conference, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league could experiment with an automated strike zone challenge during spring training in 2025. That would potentially set the table for the system to be fully implemented in 2026. Manfred did say it was "viable" that an automatic strike zone could be in place by 2026 but that it hasn't been decided yet.

Under the current system being used in Triple-A, a human umpire call balls and strikes, but the pitcher, catcher and hitter all have the right to challenge calls they believe were missed. When that happens, the automated ball-strike (ABS) system takes over. The ABS system uses Hawk-Eye camera technology to judge each pitch, much like in tennis.

When a player calls for a challenge, Hawk-Eye is implemented and shows the path of the ball relative to the strike zone. Each player's strike zone is individualized. Each team in Triple-A is currently allowed three unsuccessful challenges per game. A successful challenges do not count against that number.

MLB umpires have long been ridiculed for their work behind the plate. Implementing a challenge system makes all the sense in the world to mitigate the impact missed calls can have on games. The league has already embraced replay reviews for calls on the field, a ball-strike challenge system is the next logical step.