MLB All-Star Game illustrates how good — and easy! — the ABS challenge system can be
ATLANTA — The ABS system was used for the first time in an MLB All-Star Game Tuesday and it worked beautifully, hopefully illustrating to any naysayers out there just how good this system is for the game.
We saw four challenges and the system proved to be seamless and efficient.
It started right away, too. Tigers ace Tarik Skubal got into immediate trouble in the bottom of the first inning, allowing two runs to score and faced with a runner on second. An 0-2 pitch to Manny Machado clipped the bottom of the strike zone, but was called a ball by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna. American League catcher Cal Raleigh immediately tapped his head, signaling for a challenge.
At Raleigh’s sign, a graphic of where the pitch crossed the strike zone appeared on the scoreboard and notified everyone that it was, in fact, a strike. The call was overturned and Machado was called out for looking at the third strike. This added maybe 15 seconds to the game, max.
The second time was in the fifth inning when Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson challenged a strike call that was below the zone. It was overturned for a ball. This one in particular was huge: just think of the difference between an 0-2 count and a 1-1 count for a hitter.
In the bottom of the eighth, Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers thought his called strike three should’ve been a ball. He tapped his head. And the review showed he was wrong and Iassogna got it right. All we lost was another 10ish seconds.
Finally, in the top of the ninth with a tie game, Edwin Díaz challenged a called ball that ended up being strike three to end the inning. This video is a good illustration for anyone who didn’t watch the game at how easy the review graphic makes it.
One of the arguments against the system that I feel like is a Strawman is something like, “so what are we gonna do, make the players stand around and wait to end an inning and then have a video determine the inning is over?”
Um, yes. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
In all, there were four challenges of different varieties and all showed some of the strategy behind the balls-strikes challenges along with, of course, just how fast the system works.
When people refer to the this as “robot umps,” I feel like there’s a negative connotation loaded in that phrase that really shouldn’t be there.
The ABS system is, for those who need more background here, automated ball-strike system. It’s a system that allows hitters, pitchers or catchers to challenge balls and strikes. Challenges are capped and they’ve been doing it in the minor leagues for years. Major League Baseball used it in spring training and my hunch is it’ll be implemented for next season (commissioner Rob Manfred already said he’ll propose it for 2026).
My response? Good.
The complaints tend to come from people who don’t understand the system and think “robot umps” means every single ball-strike call will come via machine. You’ll hear people talk about how much they like the “human element” and how we don’t have to review everything.
We aren’t doing that at all! Watch the above highlights. Check out the rest of the All-Star Game. There’s still a human umpire making the calls behind home plate. The challenges are limited and can only be used twice a game by each team.
The scoreboard even had those listed next to errors.
This isn’t taking a full minute like replay review can on out/safe calls. This isn’t a situation where a manager gets on the phone to see if the team’s video person thinks he should challenge a call, then relays his decision to the umpires who then get on the phone with other umpires staring at screens. It’s an immediate call from one of the involved parties, as it was with Raleigh, Stowers and Díaz. We can’t say there’s no delay, but it’s only an incredibly small pause that can happen just a few times a game.
Seemingly every time a player gets asked about ABS, they preach about liking the human element in baseball. This system keeps it while giving an option to replace just a few bad calls a game.
What isn’t to like? Mistakes get fixed with very little fuss or delay. Hall of Fame catcher Joe Mauer is all about it and told me as much.
“Umpires are human. They miss calls just like we miss plays, so they’re out there trying to do their best to make the right call,” Mauer told CBS Sports last month. “If we can implement this system and be efficient with it and make the game better, then I’m definitely all for it.”
That’s the other thing to consider when talking about the human element. No umpires want game-altering missed calls hanging over their heads. Umpiring is one of those jobs where you only get noticed for the bad stuff. No one wants the spotlight on a missed balls-and-strikes call. They want to get every call correct, but if they fail to get one right in a big spot, there’s a mechanism to fix it with ABS. It’s basically just a back-up plan.
Not only that, but watch that Díaz pitch again. That thing barely clipped the strike zone. By maybe a millimeter. Are you really going to fault an umpire for not seeing that with the naked eye in real time? It was a 99.1 mph fastball. No human can be expected to nail that call 100% of the time. It’s just not reasonable to believe this is possible. This pitch was actually the perfect example of what could be very useful in, say, Game 7 of the World Series.
“I thought it was great,” said National League manager Dave Roberts after the game. “I think that Dan got a lot of the calls right. There was a couple that were overturned. I thought it was great. The fans enjoy it. I thought the players had fun with it. And there’s a strategy to it, if it does get to us during the season. But I like it. I think it’s good for the game. I’m okay with it.”
The bottom line is that the All-Star Game proved once again how smooth and easy ABS is. It will be good for baseball when it’s fully implemented in MLB.
