There have been a lot of changes made to Major League Baseball over the last few years. From the new extra-inning rule with a ghost runner on second base to the expanded bases and pitch-clock, the game of baseball looks a lot different than it did a few years ago.
While there will be dissenters to those new changes, so far, they're positive ones. The pitch clock has sped up the game significantly, making games much more enjoyable to watch. The extra-inning rule has shortened games heading into extras, allowing for night games not to stretch past midnight.
But, there's a new change coming that will once again have massive ramifications on the sport. MLB is instituting the ABS to aid umpires, batters, and pitchers in getting ball and strike calls correct. Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, when asked about ABS coming to MLB in 2026, cracked a joke in a piece from Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.
Stephen Vogt cracks a joke amid ABS installation for the 2026 MLB season
"Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt joked that he would've welcomed ABS challenges during his catching career," Baggarly writes. "'because I couldn't receive worth crap.'"
ABS allows a batter, catcher, or pitcher to challenge a call by the home plate umpire. It's been used in the minor leagues and has seen success. It has not lengthened the game dramatically, and there are plenty of players, teams, and executives in favor of the change.
"You can like it, dislike it, it doesn't matter - it's coming," Vogt said. For catchers who've mastered the art of pitch framing, ABS will allow batters to challenge calls that the catcher gets, flipping those calls from strikes to balls.
As Vogt mentions in his joke, ABS will allow catchers who aren't the best receivers of the ball to challenge pitches that an umpire might've missed. While not every pitch can be challenged, it's still a huge opportunity for one pitch to go a player's way.
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Considering how much one pitch flipping from a strike to a ball, or a ball to a strike can impact an at-bat, this new rule change is a massive development for Major League Baseball.
Vogt wishes he had it when he played, and for plenty of catchers, it's a bittersweet addition. While they'll be able to get some strikes that were normally called a ball, they will also lose some borderline strikes that were just outside of the zone if the batter challenges the pitch.
Fortunately for all teams, they'll have six months before the 2026 season begins to shore up their plans before ABS is utilized in the Majors. The last few years have seen some major changes to MLB, and this change is one of the biggest.
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