{"id":583311,"date":"2026-04-03T17:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583311\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T17:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:39:08","slug":"mlbs-first-week-with-abs-brings-corrections-new-strategy-and-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583311\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB’s first week with ABS brings corrections, new strategy and debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

MLB\u2019s first week with the ABS challenge system<\/a> has been a \u201clearning process that\u2019s felt almost experimental,\u201d according to Chad Jennings of THE ATHLETIC. The D-backs challenged only seven pitches in the first week while the Twins challenged 26. The Guardians were 2-for-12 in their challenges, while the Orioles were 12-for-14. Although every team spent time in spring training discussing ABS strategy, it is \u201cstill a work in progress in most dugouts.\u201d Some teams are \u201cbeing aggressive\u201d while others \u201care holding back.\u201d The Padres keep a challenge play sheet in the dugout \u201csimilar to a play sheet an NFL coach might use when deciding whether to go for 2 — that outlines situations in which to be most or least aggressive in challenging borderline pitches.\u201d The challenge system has \u201cdone its job in its first week.\u201d Calls have been corrected, games have been affected, and \u201cnew strategies have been put into play.\u201d There is \u201cmore to do and more to come, but when all\u2019s said and done, there\u2019s less to complain about\u201d (THE ATHLETIC, 4\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

PLAYERS\u2019 LOVE: In Toronto, Gregor Chisholm writes one week into the ABS system in place, it has \u201caccomplished what it set out to do.\u201d Obvious miscalls are being overturned and there has been \u201cvery little impact on the pace of play.\u201d The vast majority of MLBers \u201cappear to be in favour of the new rules, even while some believe a few minor tweaks would make it better.\u201d The challenge system has also \u201cinjected additional excitement into the in-stadium experience.\u201d No matter the score, fans \u201cget into it whenever a call goes to ABS.\u201d The only \u201creal controversies have been about the time permitted to make each challenge.\u201d Players are supposed to make their decision immediately after the pitch, which MLB has described as \u201croughly two seconds,\u201d which is \u201ca bit vague\u201d (TORONTO STAR, 4\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

NUMBERS TO IT: In D.C., Liam Griffin wrote the setup has \u201coffered a learning curve for the players on the field.\u201d According to MLB StatCast, players have succeeded on 55% of challenges through the first week of the season. Catchers have been \u201cmore successful than pitchers or batters,\u201d converting 59% of their calls, compared to 52% for batters and 42% for pitchers. The strategic opportunities are a \u201cgold mine for MLB fans and coaches who have embraced analytics over the past two decades.\u201d When to use a challenge \u201cis an evolving art for managers to teach their players\u201d (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4\/2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

UMPIRES PUT IN THE MIDDLE: TSN.ca\u2019s Steve Phillips noted the only ones \u201cwho don\u2019t love the new system are the umpires.\u201d They are \u201cgetting exposed publicly when they make mistakes.\u201d It is \u201cembarrassing for the umps and leads to even more heckling.\u201d The residual benefit of the ABS system is that it \u201cwill hold umpires accountable for the quality of their work.\u201d The evaluations of the umpires have \u201cnever been made public, but now their work is front and centre.\u201d There is \u201cno spinning the number of calls that get overturned by each umpire\u201d (TSN.ca, 4\/1<\/a>). THE VERGE\u2019s Terrence O\u2019Brien noted during Saturday\u2019s game between the Red Sox and the Reds, 3B Eugenio Suarez challenged umpire C.B. Bucknor on back-to-back strike three calls and had each successfully overturned. It was a \u201cbad night\u201d for Bucknor overall. There were eight ABS challenges over the course of the game, and six were successful. Three pitches he called strikes missed by 2.4 inches or more\u202f– one was a full 2.7 inches out of the zone. There were several umpires whose first brushes with ABS \u201cwent worse.\u201d\u202fChad Whitson had all seven challenges in his game between the Yankees and the Giants on March 28 overturned (THE VERGE, 4\/2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

NEGATIVE REACTIONS: In Cincinnati, Jason Williams wrote he does not like ABS as it \u201cpromotes showing up the umpire, even embarrassing him.\u201d But embarrassing Bucknor and all of his colleagues via ABS \u201cis setting a bad precedent.\u201d The fallout for umpires from ABS \u201cisn\u2019t going to encourage people to sign up to be an ump\u201d (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4\/2<\/a>). In Massachusetts, Matt Vautour writes eventually they are \u201cgoing to get to using ABS on every pitch.\u201d So how about \u201cskipping to the end right now.\u201d This \u201ccan\u2019t be the final product.\u201d The concept that the \u201cmost accurate information is readily available, but is only used a limited number of times when asked for is illogical.\u201d But if MLB wants to use the technology, then use it all the way \u201con every pitch\u201d (MASSLIVE.com, 4\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MLB\u2019s first week with the ABS challenge system has been a \u201clearning process that\u2019s felt almost experimental,\u201d according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,4034,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-583311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}