It’s time to say goodbye to arguments about balls and strikes. Today, MLB announced that the ABS Challenge System will be introduced to every ballpark for the 2026 season. T-Mobile’s 5G technology will power
the system.
Baseball traditionalists shouldn’t get too up in arms. ABS doesn’t mean “robot umps” for every pitch. It gives players the option to challenge a ball-strike call. Think of it as a fast-paced instant replay for the strike zone: the pitcher, catcher, or batter can tap their cap to trigger a review, and within seconds Hawk-Eye technology shows whether the ump got it right. Fans at the stadium will see the result on the videoboard, while viewers at home will get it via their television broadcast.
Each team receives two challenges per game, and if the game goes into extra innings, additional challenges are added as the contest continues. Most importantly, teams keep their challenges if they get the call right. During Spring Training 2025, the average review took just 13.8 seconds, which was fast enough to correct mistakes without slowing the game down.
Why not full ABS? According to their research, players and fans alike preferred the challenge system, which preserves the art of pitch framing, avoids endless walks, and keeps a little human element in the game. The result: more accurate calls on the biggest pitches, while still letting umps work the plate.
This significant change is occurring after years of Minor League testing as well as trial runs in spring training and the All-Star Game. It seems that MLB and its fans are more than ready to fully embrace the technology. It will be a massive shift, and for the first time in the history of the game, home-plate calls won’t be definitive — and the strike zone is about to get a 5G-powered upgrade.
