In the World Series, every moment is magnified. Even the umpires can feel immense pressure.
Any little mistake can tilt the balance of the Series, and remain with them for a lifetime.
Fortunately, MLB now has a video review system to minimize the impact of missed calls. In its first year of implementation at the major league level, the Automatic Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System
seems to have been an overwhelming success.While the number of replay challenges available for each manager increases from one to two in the playoffs, the ABS challenge rules are unchanged from the regular season. Each team begins the game with two challenges and keeps any challenges that are successful. If the game goes to extra innings, teams receive an additional challenge if
they don't have any left at the start of an inning.
ABS statistics for 2026 regular season
Pitchers and catchers were generally more successful than batters in getting umpires' calls overturned during the 2026 regular season, according to Baseball Savant.
Successful regular season challenges
- FIelders (catchers + pitchers): 3,358 of 5,792 (58%)
- Hitters: 2,328 of 4,765 (49%)
Interestingly, hitters for the two teams in this year's World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, had the worst results of any teams in the majors when challenging a strike call.
While their 46% success rate wasn't last overall, the runs above average they lost by challenging were the lowest in MLB. (Brewers -3.2 runs, Rays -3.9 runs)
Conversely, the two teams' pitchers and catchers were among the majors' most effective, with the Brewers gaining 2.2 runs above average (seventh overall) and the Rays gaining 1.6 (eighth).
In this year's postseason, those trends have continued − with hitters from the Brewers (-0.3 runs above average) and Rays (-1.1) ranking dead last among the 12 playoff teams, while their pitchers and catchers (Rays +0.6, Brewers +0.5) ranked first and second.
Brewers' strategy for challenging balls and strikes
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy recently told USA TODAY Sports the Brewers have a rating system – 1 to 5 – regarding best and worst times to challenge, one they have refined for the playoffs.
“As long as you can identify what we call fives – good times to challenge, changing the at-bat,” he says. “But do you change an at-bat with two outs, nobody on in the second inning? It’s kind of identifying leverage and taking a chance there."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB's new ABS challenge system could help decide 2026 World Series
