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Every few years, Major League Baseball rolls out a rule change that reshapes how the game is played.
In 2020, MLB implemented the three-batter minimum for relievers and introduced the automatic runner in extra innings.
Three years later, the league rolled out another wave of changes — adding the pitch clock, limiting pickoff attempts, and restricting defensive shifts — all in an effort to speed up play, encourage action on the bases and restore more balance between hitters and pitchers.
Now, another shift is on the way.
Major League Baseball will use the new technology during select 2025 Spring Training games to get real-time results and gather feedback.
In just under two months, the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system will officially become part of regular-season Major League games. The system has been tested extensively in the Minors and made its Spring Training debut at the big-league level last year. In 2026, it becomes real.
For Phillies manager Rob Thomson, a baseball lifer who has seen the game evolve in cycles, the key factor is simple: whether the players buy in or not.
“I think it’s great,” Thomson said. “When we tried it in spring training last year, a lot of the guys liked it — not everybody — but most did. And I think the umpires liked it as well. As long as somebody doesn’t get embarrassed, I like it. And if the players like it, I think it’s fair for everybody.”
The system itself is straightforward. Each team is allowed two challenges per game, initiated by the hitter, pitcher, or catcher. Challenges are immediate and binary — either the call is overturned or it isn’t — which keeps the pace intact.
One concern often raised is whether ABS diminishes the value of pitch framing. Thomson, a former catcher himself, doesn’t see it that way.
“They talk about whether it’s going to make receiving less important,” he said. “That’s not really true, because you only get two challenges. Framing still comes into play.”
That balance matters for a club like Philadelphia, especially with J.T. Realmuto back behind the plate. While Realmuto hasn’t graded as an elite framer in recent seasons, his feel for the strike zone — and willingness to challenge calls — stood out during last spring’s trial run.
Left-hander Tanner Banks saw that firsthand.
“I know J.T. was excited about it,” Banks said. “There were times in spring when he’d catch a pitch and immediately know it was a strike. You see guys like Bryce [Harper] or Kyle [Schwarber] get rung up on pitches that are balls — the hitter knows the zone better than anybody.”
From the pitching side, Banks acknowledged there’s an adjustment.
“There’s a human element pitchers like with umpires,” he said. “Maybe you steal something because the catcher does a great job. But at the end of the day, you want consistency. The umpires I’ve talked to are for it if it helps make the right call. It’s not a jab at anyone — it’s a matter of game integrity.”
Accuracy, of course, remains another big question. Strike zones differ by hitter stance, height, and approach, and every ballpark presents its own quirks. Whether ABS can apply that consistently across 30 stadiums is something the league will continue monitoring.
Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez views it as another adaptation point.
“It changes the game and you have to adjust,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “There are a few things that I don’t necessarily like or agree with, but I just try to adapt and keep going.
That perspective carries weight. Sánchez was on the mound for one of the most scrutinized ball-strike calls of the entire 2025 postseason — a missed call in Game 4 of the NLDS that altered the inning and, ultimately, the series.
Rule changes tend to be judged in hindsight. When they help, they’re praised. When they don’t, they’re criticized.
But MLB’s intent has remained consistent: get the calls right.
Instant replay paired with managers’ challenges, introduced in 2014, once felt intrusive. Now it’s expected. ABS will likely follow a similar path — an adjustment period, some early friction, and then normalization.
When the ball hits the catcher’s mitt in 2026, the margin for error will be smaller. For players and teams built on precision and strategy, that may be exactly the point.
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Cole Weintraub
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