A Swing and a Miss!

A Fitting Change for the Time in the MLB

By Leo Saul

A pitch thrown—and it’s a ball. Or is it a strike? For so many years, Major League Baseball (MLB) has been a game of wrong calls and frustrated players, and it’s time for that to change. After all, there are self-driving cars on the road, so why can’t a league that brings in 12 billion dollars a year and has robots that simulate opposing pitchers not tell where a ball went through the strike zone? In September, the MLB announced that the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) System would be in effect next year on challenge calls. Umpires will use the ABS system when a catcher, pitcher, or batter challenges their calls. Afterwards, a system of cameras reviews the play and makes a call in about 17 seconds. Despite being a new technology in the MLB, the ABS challenge system adds a layer of strategy and modernization to the MLB, something that it desperately needs.

Since 1876 , the MLB has been dominated by human umpires, who do everything from making calls on whether a runner is safe to determining if challenges are successful. In 2008, umpires could watch a video review for home run challenges, marking the first time that calls were not up to just what the umpire saw.

Technology poses a solution to one of the MLB’s biggest problems: umpires getting calls wrong. In 2025, the average MLB umpire called 94 % of the calls correctly, leading to some rightfully frustrated fans, players, and coaches. Baseball is supposed to showcase the talent of the players, coaches, and staff. However, when a wrong call unfairly alters the game, it becomes a matter of chance as to who gets lucky with the call rather than being dependent on skill. With the ABS system in place, coaches and players wouldn’t be able to argue with the automated system in the same way they would with a human umpire, leading to a lower ejection rate. Fewer ejections are better for the game, as it allows the true talent to be seen.

Additionally, ABS will add a new level of strategy to the game. Since teams only get two challenges per game, which they retain if they get the call right, it requires players not to challenge minor, less important calls they are unsure of. Furthermore, the fact that any call can be video replayed and immediately overturned will hopefully encourage umpires to make more accurate calls, making the game fairer. Additionally, this will add a new interesting layer to the game for fans to boost their engagement. Previously, MLB has also tried to make the game more appealing and efficient by adding things such as the pitch clock, a countdown timer between pitches. In addition, ABS will reduce the number of players and managers arguing over balls and strikes, and ultimately reduce the ejection rate of players and coaches. A reduced ejection rate is greatly beneficial for the MLB because it allows fans to see the talent they came for, instead of seeing players subbed off because of an argument. On the other hand, an argument against the ABS system is that it mitigates pitch framing, which is when the catcher moves their glove to try and make a ball look like a strike. However, the devaluation of pitch framing is beneficial for the MLB because the game becomes more persuasion-based instead of being skill-based when catchers try to persuade umpires about balls and strikes. This diminishes from the actual skills of the pitchers and makes the game more centered around persuasion.

Reflecting on the day and age that 2025 is, it is time for the MLB to make accurate calls and showcase players’ real talent. Although traditionalists may understandably miss the human element, faults and all, at a time when everyone can watch the replay on their phone, the changes will ensure the game remains focused on playing and not officiating. Instituting the ABS challenge system is a major step in the right direction to making the game of baseball as enjoyable as it can be.

MLB releases Spring Training ABS challenge results

The ABS strike zone is visually described

What the ABS Challenge system will look like

What the ABS challenge system looks like