Now that we\u2019ve seen the entertainment value of the Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS), here\u2019s a suggestion for Major League Baseball:<\/p>\n
Bring \u00c1ngel Hern\u00e1ndez out of retirement to work the plate at the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
The Midsummer Classic would turn into a head-tapping challenge-fest, with fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia roaring with every ball-strike call that gets overturned.<\/p>\n
It will never happen. MLB in May 2024 reached a financial settlement with Hern\u00e1ndez so he could retire at 62. But I\u2019m not sure even commissioner Rob Manfred imagined the robo umps could be this riveting \u2014 and at least in the early returns, this good for the game.<\/p>\n
ABS introduces new forms of scrutiny, new ways to talk baseball, new strategies to debate. Numerous players already have expressed remorse about using questionable judgment. Some reacted too passively, failing to seize an opportunity for a reversal. Others responded too aggressively, knowing each team in the first nine innings can miss on only two challenges.<\/p>\n
Let \u2018em fret. The rest of us can just enjoy the show.<\/p>\n
Granted, this is the shiny new toy phase, the robots at their most romantic. Moments of exasperation are inevitable. Perhaps when a game ends on an overturned ball-strike call. Perhaps when an outcome turns over a difference of a tenth of an inch. But the ABS process is quick and definitive. And fans already are getting into it.<\/p>\n
One of the most memorable sequences of the new season occurred Saturday in Cincinnati, when the crowd at Great American Ballpark roared successively louder when the Reds\u2019 Eugenio Su\u00e1rez had consecutive strike-three calls by CB Bucknor overturned.<\/p>\n
John Sadak, the Reds\u2019 television play-by-play man, called it as if Su\u00e1rez had just smacked a walkoff homer in the ninth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe loudest cheers of the game \u2014 the Reds have hit two homers \u2014 come on back-to-back challenges!\u201d Sadak cried.<\/p>\n
Sadak\u2019s call was appropriate, considering the way the crowd erupted (Su\u00e1rez, who batted with two outs and the bases loaded, ultimately grounded out). Bucknor had a rough day, with eight calls challenged and six overturned. The first reversal on Su\u00e1rez, though, was on a pitch only three-tenths of an inch off the plate. As Reds TV analyst Barry Larkin noted, \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how minuscule the misses are, but these guys just know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t always know it. Sometimes, they\u2019re just making educated guesses. But pitchers today throw harder than ever. Their breaking balls move like never before. Most umpires are quite good at calling balls and strikes, even as pitches whiz toward them. But the technology offers a way to correct their mistakes while also demonstrating they\u2019re right most of the time.<\/p>\n
Through 35 games, the challenge rate \u2014 defined as the percentage of challenges initiated out of takes that a) come with at least one challenge available and b) resulted in calls that went against the challenging team \u2014 was 2.4 percent. The sample size obviously is quite small, but at Triple A last season, the challenge rate was comparable \u20143 percent.<\/p>\n
The disruption, then, is minimal. And while some within the sport are bracing for unintended consequences, we\u2019ve already seen unexpected developments that were rather interesting.<\/p>\n
We saw a hilariously confident challenge Saturday from the Seattle Mariners\u2019 Randy Arozarena, who, after a 3-2 pitch, jogged several steps to first before even tapping his helmet, then removed his shin guard and elbow protector with the challenge in progress \u2014 and was proven correct by two-tenths of an inch.<\/p>\n
We even saw our first robot-related ejection Sunday when Minnesota Twins manager Derek Shelton argued that Baltimore Orioles closer Ryan Helsley waited too long to request a challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Derek Shelton is the first ABS-related ejection in MLB history.<\/p>\n “I didn’t think Helsley tapped his hat quick enough. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I didn\u2019t feel he did. I feel like it’s got to be something within three seconds and I didn’t think it was.” pic.twitter.com\/3cBG8ppmiX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n So much for the concern that ABS might end the days of managers getting tossed. As the Yankees\u2019 Aaron Boone told The Athletic\u2019s Jayson Stark<\/a> this spring, \u201cI actually think it adds another component to get ejected.\u201d An umpire added, \u201cOh, don\u2019t worry. They\u2019ll find something. They have to vent.\u201d<\/p>\n Sure enough, both Boone and the ump already are being proven right.<\/p>\n Fun stuff. Fascinating stuff, too. Some of the game\u2019s biggest stars have already voiced frustration over trying to outthink the robots.<\/p>\n On Saturday alone, both the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 Kyle Schwarber and Boston Red Sox\u2019s Roman Anthony regretted burning challenges, and the Detroit Tigers\u2019 Spencer Torkelson regretted not using one.<\/p>\n