Major League Baseball (MLB) has finally announced that the Automated Ball Strike (ABS) Challenge System
has been approved for Major League game through a vote from the Joint Competition Committee.
From 2026 the “Challenge System” will be used in all spring training, championship season and postseason competitions. The competition committee – consisting of six owners, four active players and one active referee – was established as part of the current collective negotiation agreement that was negotiated between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). Since 2022, MLB has extensively tested the use of ABS technology in Triple-A, in addition to testing during 2025 Major League Spring Training and the All-Star Game 2025. The final design of the system, including moving to the ABS-challenging format, is a result of important feedback from players, tribunals, Front Offices.
The Florida State League (Single-A) of Minor League Baseball (Single-A) has used ABS since 2021, since 2022 ABS has been ABS in selected parks and ABS has been everywhere in Triple-A since 2023. ABS challenge debuted at the Major League level in the spring training of 2025.
The 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta also contained ABS challenge:
Marc Topkin inquired with a few Rays -people on the ABS system after the announcement. Here are two important quotes, but read more on the Tampa Bay Times.
In the spring training 2025, the ABS was challenged a test run. Here are some observations from the results in the MLB press release:
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