The change to the strike zone box on MLB TV broadcasts has been implemented in conjunction with the automatic ball-strike challenge system. Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today
Feb. 15, 2026Updated 10:17 pm EST
Fans at home will have a slightly different look when watching MLB games on television this season.
The strike zone box, shown almost universally on every local and national MLB broadcast, will no longer be able to indicate whether a pitch is a ball or a strike, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Sunday.
The strike zone box can still be used, but it will be on viewers to guess as to whether the pitch was a ball or a strike.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported this change.
The change has been implemented in conjunction with the automatic ball-strike challenge system, which MLB will begin using in games starting this season. Players will have only a couple of seconds to determine whether they’ll challenge the umpire’s call.
The league has taken a few steps to combat the potential for players to be given information about pitch location.
There will be a five-second delay on pitch location data on MLB Gameday. And the low-latency feed that’s available inside the ballpark won’t have the strike zone box or pitch location dots. Broadcast feeds with the strike zone box will be operating on around a nine-second delay.
The first iteration of balls’ and strikes’ being determined on broadcasts occurred in July 2001, when ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” implemented the K-Zone, and has been used in some form ever since. But the league is being extremely careful to avoid providing any opportunity to gain an unfair advantage.
The ABS challenge system, which has been tested in Triple A and during the 2025 MLB spring training, will be a full go this spring and in the regular season. Teams have two incorrect challenges per game and an additional challenge in extra innings if they’ve already burned through the two allotted to begin the game.
Feb 16, 2026
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