One Week In, Baseball's New ABS System Has Teams Playing It Totally Different

One week into MLB's new Automated Ball-Strike challenge system and we're already seeing something wild: nobody has a clue what the right strategy is. The Red Sox want to challenge smart. The Guardians want to challenge constantly. The Diamondbacks are barely touching it. The Twins? They're going crazy with it. Welcome to the ABS era, where every team is figuring this out in real time.

The Strategy Battle Is Just Getting Started

Red Sox manager Alex Cora put it plainly: "The most important thing is when we challenge, we don't want to be the team that challenges the most. We want to be the most efficient." Meanwhile, Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt is playing it the complete opposite way. "It's more about how many we can get right than it is our percentage," he said. "Whether you're 2-for-100 or 2-for-2, you got two challenges overturned. We want our guys to use them."

The numbers back up how much teams are diverging. According to Tap to Challenge, a site tracking ABS data, the Diamondbacks challenged only seven pitches in the first week while the Twins went aggressive with 26. The Guardians went 2-for-12 on challenges. The Orioles? A ridiculous 12-for-14. These gaps are massive.

The Real Wrinkle: It's Harder Than Expected

Cubs manager Craig Counsell hit on something real when he pounded the table in frustration. "It's easy for all of you and everybody after the game to say, 'What are we doing?' But the real time of this thing is a completely different animal for the players and for the umpires and for the catchers."

The Athletic talked to nearly two dozen managers, coaches, players and executives around the league. Most had positive first impressions, but they came with warnings. The system is stressing out catchers. It's confused hitters and pitchers about the top of the zone. It's put intense, uncomfortable pressure on umpires. Tampa Bay's pitching coach Kyle Snyder summed it up best: "It's correct to have a chance to get it right. But I personally feel for the umpires under this current system. Given today's environment with velocity and huge break profiles and extension deception, and not having the benefit of knowing what pitch is coming, it's pretty remarkable how accurate most of them are. It must be difficult for some of the most tenured umpires."

Teams Are Adapting (Some Faster Than Others)

The Padres brought a color-coded challenge play sheet into the dugout, basically copying what NFL coaches use for go-for-2 decisions. Manager Craig Stammen admitted it: "Yes, we have it color-coded, elementary style." The Padres ended up middle-of-the-pack in challenges and success rate.

The Diamondbacks, Rangers and Pirates have been among the least aggressive. The Twins are by far the most, and manager Derek Shelton is still trying to get hesitant players comfortable enough to tap their helmets and challenge.

Here's what might stick around: everyone is recalibrating what a strike even is. The Astros walked a franchise-record 28 batters in their opening series against the Angels. Astros pitching coach Josh Miller noticed something different: "Seems the umpires have started calling a little bit of a tighter zone. Putting the onus on the catcher or the pitcher to challenge if they really feel like it's a strike." That patience from hitters could become the new normal.

One more headache: the strike zone literally changes based on how tall each batter is. Twins manager Derek Shelton identified the problem everyone's wrestling with. "I think guys that are tall, even catchers, are having trouble determining what is the top. Where does it go? The challenge for umpires is going to be 'How high does it go now' compared to previous places?"

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.