Baseball Is About To Crack Down On Home Plate Umpires
MLB umps are about to get a reality check for their bad ball and strike calls, based on a new upcoming rule change.
Major League Baseball fans are due to get relief from what's long been a major headache with home plate umpires.
MLB has announced a new rule change coming for 2026 that will institute an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system, which allows teams to challenge ball/strike calls that they deem obvious enough to reverse. The Joint Competition Committee voted Tuesday to implement the system, which has been tested in Triple-A since 2022 and even at the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.
"If a pitcher, catcher, or batter disagrees with the umpire’s initial call of ball or strike, he can request a challenge by immediately tapping on his hat or helmet and vocalizing a challenge," an official MLB press release reads. "The pitch location is compared to the batter’s strike zone, and if any part of the ball touches any part of the strike zone, the pitch will be considered a strike. The home plate umpire will announce the challenge to the fans in the ballpark and a graphic showing the outcome of the challenge will be displayed on the scoreboard and broadcast. The entire process takes approximately 15 seconds."
That last part is sneaky-very important for fans and TV viewers. It's nice to be able to challenge and correct bad calls, but don't make everyone wait several minutes to figure it out.
Every team will begin games with two challenges, and will not lose a challenge if it is successful. Only pitchers, batters, and catchers can challenge the umpire's calls, and they must request a challenge "immediately" (get ready for that to have some gray area). Players cannot get help from the dugout prior to challenging. Teams will also get an extra challenge in each extra inning if they have none remaining.
MLB describes a 12-camera "Hawk-Eye" setup, which is meant to track the location of each and every pitch. The hope is that the cameras track pitches accurately, and can quickly diagnose whether the call was right or wrong upon challenges from players.
The press release says the ABS system will be implemented in 2026 for "all Spring Training, Championship Season, and Postseason games." That's a fancy way of saying it will take place throughout the whole season. Every single game.
Players will also have to be careful and disciplined with their challenges. Don't risk wasting challenges in the first inning of a scoreless game, for instance. They'll want to make sure it's clear and obvious and the team will not lose a challenge. At the same time, all those obvious challenges will add 15 seconds to the runtime of the game.
At the end of the day, umpires will need to be better, and teams will have to keep their challenges under control. But at least the clear, glaring bad calls will no longer be a thing.
