As 2026 comes to a close, so does the first season of ABS in MLB.
Using the incredibly detailed breakdown on Baseball Savant’s ABS Challenge Dashboard, a paradoxical truth seems undeniable: The Rockies are one of the best teams at ABS challenges, while also simultaneously being one of the worst.
In the simplest terms, when the Rockies issue an ABS challenge on defense — mostly meaning when Hunter Goodman taps his catcher’s helmet — it turns out well. But when the Rockies are at the plate, they are the worst
in baseball at gauging the strike zone.
We can dive into the numbers to see how the Rockies have seen their fair share of ABS challenge success and how they could use the new system more efficiently.
Starting with the basics, combining fielding and batting challenges overall, the Rockies have overturned 206 calls, which ranks No. 7 through Wednesday’s games. They get it right 54.1% of the time, which has stayed pretty consistent this year.
Fielding ABS Challenges
When it comes to fielding, which can mean the pitcher or catcher objecting to the ball or strike call, the Rockies are correct 65% of the time. That’s 10% above the league average and tied for fourth-best with the Texas Rangers, who have won 96 challenges, while the Rockies won 133.
Colorado tends to challenge more than most teams as they are ranked No. 7 at 206. This is great because it’s working. The Rockies have flipped 42 calls that then lead to the opposing batter striking out. That’s tied for third-best in the big leagues.
Check out this Goodman challenge that resulted in Mason Adams striking out Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo on Wednesday.
They’ve also erased 14 would-be walks, which is tied for fifth-best. Goodman added to that total on Sept. 19 vs. the Mariners when he challenged what turned out to be not-ball four to Domonic Canzone.
This is largely due to Goodman’s masterful eye behind the plate. His 77 challenges won are the fourth-best in MLB, while his 68.1% success rate is the third-best among starting catchers. In addition, Brett Sullivan has 73 challenges behind the plate with a 58.9% win rate and Braxton Fulford went 7-for-10 in his challenges to boost the Rockies’ stats.
Zooming out, mostly thanks to Goodman, the Rockies have an MLB-best net ABS overturns more than expected by a fielding team seeing identical pitches (only challenges by team) at 30.6. When it comes to actual run value on overturns on challenges by team minus expected, the Rockies are No. 1 at 6.8.
Even though the Rockies enter Thursday’s home finale against Arizona with a -184 run differential, and 6.8 runs doesn’t seem like a lot, they have played in 41 one-run games (and gone 17-24). If better days are ahead and the Rockies are closer to competing, this could make a difference for Colorado.
Pitchers have a collective success rate of 39.3% across the league, which has resulted in fewer pitchers using ABS (only 178 total this season). The Rockies pitchers have combined for 10 challenges and have a 60% win rate. That’s largely due to Kyle Freeland, who has challenged four times and won three.
Batting ABS Challenges
The ABS wins on defense will only matter if they aren’t cancelled out by the Rockies batters’ horrendous challenge rate at the plate.
Through games on Sept. 23, the Rockies are in a three-way tie for worst in MLB with a 42% ABS success rate for hitters. They have challenged 175 calls and won only 73 times. That’s 7% lower than the league average of 49%. Despite the lack of success, the Rockies hitters continue to tap their batting helmets. The 175 attempts ranks No. 6.
In other words, even though they are terrible at it, they keep doing it. A lot.
The Rockies hitters have avoided 20 strikeouts with ABS calls, which is impressive, but only ranks No. 18 in MLB. The 20 strikeouts are more closely aligned with a “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” mentality than an effective approach of when to challenge or not. Colorado is No. 23 with 1,373 strikeouts, which is an improvement from finishing No. 29 last year, but hitters’ eye for the strike zone definitely leaves room for improvement. This is supported by the fact that Colorado batters have only drawn eight extra walks thanks to challenges, which ranks No. 24.
When it comes to the bigger picture, the Rockies have an MLB-worst net ABS overturns more than expected by a team seeing identical pitches (only challenges by team) at -33.5. It’s not great, especially compared to MLB-leading A’s at 24.3. However, in the runs gained vs. runs expected department, the Rockies offense is in the top tier at 2.3, which ranks No. 6. Even though there is a large failure rate, when the Rockies do win, it’s leading to meaningful results.
Individually, the two Rockies who tend to challenge calls the most aren’t the best at it. Cole Carrigg leads the team with 26 challenges and he’s posted a 42.3% success rate.
The worst offender is Willi Castro, who has the second most challenges at 24, but a measly 25% success rate. It’s quite possible that if the Rockies made a rule that Castro can’t tap his helmet, the team average could rise exponentially next year. Here’s an example of one of Castro’s fails on Aug. 31 vs. the Orioles.
One of the Rockies with the most success is Kyle Karros, who gets it right 62.5% of the time (16 correct calls). TJ Rumfield is also above average at 15 correct calls at 46.7%. Other hitters, like Jake McCarthy, just don’t use it much. McCarthy has only challenged five times, winning four of them.
For the first season using ABS, the Rockies definitely have a lot to be proud of, especially the catchers. When it comes to improvement in 2027, if the Rockies can practice more self-control at the plate, they could turn their ABS challenges into even more of an advantage.
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