Phillies gearing up for ABS challenge system
CLEARWATER, Fla. — A significant rule change is coming to MLB this season.
Teams will now be allowed to challenge balls and strikes. The catcher, pitcher and hitter are all eligible to challenge. Teams get two challenges per game. If the challenge is successful, the team gets to retain it. Umpires will still call balls and strikes behind the plate. A player will tap the top of their head after a pitch is called to signal that they are challenging. The game will pause briefly for a replay review, and the automated strike zone will determine if the pitch is a ball or strike. The replay review will be shown on the scoreboard inside the stadium.
“Now, that human element is back on the players,” Trea Turner said. “So that’s kind of interesting. It’s going to be fun to watch. Even if a guy wastes one here or there, I’m sure there is strategy involved in all of it.”
The league has been experimenting with different versions of the automated-ball strike challenge system in the minor leagues since 2022. Major league players got a taste of it in some spring training games last year.
Turner, as a joke, challenged the first pitch of a Grapefruit League game last year against the Blue Jays, a strike right down the middle to rattle his former teammate Max Scherzer.
“I think it will change the game a lot late,” Turner said. “Just making sure those calls are right in the biggest moments. Even if, you know, a team challenges and they’re wrong, at least you know that the call’s right.”
Maybe a challenge system would have changed the outcome of Game 4 of last year’s National League Division Series against the Dodgers. With the Phillies up 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh and one out, Cristopher Sánchez threw a sinker inside to Alex Call that hit the inside corner. J.T. Realmuto was gearing up to throw the ball over to third, anticipating a called third strike. Home plate umpire Mark Wegner called it a ball, and Realmuto shook his head. Sánchez gave Wegner a menacing look. Wegner later apologized to Sánchez for missing the call. The Dodgers eventually tied the game later in the inning and went on to win on a walk-off error in the 11th.
Manager Rob Thomson said he will not implement any rules for his players regarding challenges for the first 10-14 days of Grapefruit League play. He wants to encourage players to use it early in games to get used to it.
“These guys play five innings to start spring training,” Thomson said. “So we need to push them to use it so that they can learn. As situations come up, we talk them through it. ‘Yeah, this might be a situation where you should use it, even if they didn’t. No, maybe that’s not the situation,’ but you still want them to try and get some experience with it.”
The implementation of the ABS system may not be as seismic of a change as the pitch clock was in 2023, but it will impact the outcome of games. It will be up to the players, not managers and coaches, to understand leverage.
“Hopefully we save them for bigger situations, bases loaded,” Turner said. “Even if you’re wrong, that’s kind of the situation you should use it in.” It will also be up to the players to be aware of their own knowledge of the strike zone. Turner said he is strong on the corners, but doesn’t have as good of a feel for high and low strikes.
“If I do challenge, which I don’t plan on challenging too much, it would probably be on the corners, more so than up and down,” Turner said. “I think some guys are good at some things. But you’re going to have to learn. You’re gonna have to challenge something, and you’re going to be wrong. You’re going to have to make adjustments.”