Rejoice, MLB fans, robot umpires are almost here … well, kind of. The league joint competition committee met Tuesday to vote on whether to bring the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system to the majors in 2026, per Joe Lemire of the Sports Business Journal.
The vote was successful, MLB announced, meaning players will be able to challenge ball and strike calls next season.
The news shouldn’t come as a surprise, as MLB has been testing the challenge system for years. The league originally used the Atlantic League and the minors to roll out the system. MLB tested two different ABS changes in recent years. The first involved using ABS to make every single ball and strike call. The second involved teams being given the ability to challenge specific calls during games. The second option was preferred among players and was considered a success in the minors.
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Because of that, MLB decided to test the ABS challenge system last spring. The league also allowed players to challenge calls in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. Each team was given two challenges per game, which could be lost if an umpire’s call was confirmed. The experiment went over extremely well. Players seemed on board with the idea, and challenges were fast enough that they did not interfere with games.
MLB will implement a similar system in 2026. Teams will begin each game with two challenges, and they’ll retain those challenges if successful. Challenges can be initiated by the pitcher, catcher or batter and must be requested right after the pitch in question. Players are not allowed to receive help from the dugout or other players before initiating a challenge. An additional challenge will be rewarded to teams in extra innings if those teams no longer have any challenges.
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Once a challenge is initiated, the home plate umpire will announce the challenge to the crowd. The scoreboard will then show where the ball landed using ABS cameras. The entire process is expected to take roughly 15 seconds.
In order to bring ABS challenges to the majors, the league needed to collectively bargain the issue with the umpire’s union. Both sides reached an agreement in 2024. One umpire sits on the league’s joint competition committee — along with six team owners and four players — so all three sides were represented in Tuesday’s vote.
