Major League Baseball is testing the challenge system version of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) in roughly 60% of Spring Training games this preseason.
For instance, it may seem like the strike zone is a three-dimensional space, but a ball that drops below the zone as it crosses the plate may just barely knick the very front edge of a 3D ABS zone without ever really being hittable.
Team priorities are not exactly aligned with the league’s – while MLB would like to see how players use the challenge system in a competitive environment, the teams know a little too well what is (and is not) at stake.
As recently as the start of last season, Triple-A – the highest level of minor league baseball – was using full ABS half the week and the challenge system the rest of the time.
Here’s how it works: Human umpires call balls and strikes as usual, but Hawk-Eye technology – which will already be familiar to fans of sports such as soccer, tennis and cricket – measures each pitch relative to the strike zone.
