Automated Ball-Strike System, aka robot umpires, could be tested in spring training 2025
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. Credit: AP/LM Otero
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Robot umpires are marching closer toward an official arrival date for Major League Baseball.
Commissioner Rob Manfred mapped out a tentative plan Tuesday afternoon, suggesting that the Automated Ball-Strike System, known as ABS, could be implemented for spring training next February, with 2026's regular season as a “viable possibility.”
It’s important to note that this would be the challenge option, which has split time with the fully-automated version during the past two seasons at Triple-A. While there are some bugs in the current protocols, Manfred believes a spring-training rollout could smooth the way for the regular season a year later.
“We do have technical issues surrounding the definition of the strike zone that still need to be worked out,” Manfred said Tuesday morning to the Baseball Writers Association of America. “I said at the Owners Meetings [in June] it is not likely that we would bring ABS to the big leagues without a spring-training test.
“So if it’s ’24, that leads me to ’25 as the year to do your spring training testing -- if we can get these issues resolved -- which would make ’26 a viable possibility. But is that going to be the year? I’m not gonna be flat-footed on that issue.”
Obviously, Manfred has reason to proceed with an abundance of caution. The strike zone has always been a contentious matter for baseball, and even more so with the evolution of high-definition replay and the now-constant appearance of the floating box during the TV broadcasts.
Players seem universally on board with some type of automation but have expressed concerns over how the strike zone has been enforced with the Trackman/Hawk-Eye monitoring apparatus installed in every Triple-A ballpark. Most of the complaints come from the pitching side, citing a shrinking strike zone that aligns with MLB’s mission to generate more offense.
The ABS challenge format gives MLB a preferable fail-safe option. Umpires will call balls and strikes as they always have, but the pitcher, catcher or hitter can immediately ask for a Hawk-Eye review, which then shows on the stadium’s scoreboard so fans can watch along in real time. MLB already has unveiled the ABS at the past two Futures Games during All-Star weekend as well as select spring training showcases this year between minor-league prospects.
In that sense, MLB has been building momentum with its ABS transition by seeing how it performs on bigger stages. But like most things involving this tradition-rich sport, change tends to proceed at a glacial pace -- the universal DH, the pitch clock -- and Manfred is rightfully wary of making the leap without first reducing the robot risk as low as humanly possible.
“One thing we’ve learned with the changes last year is a little more time is better than not enough time,” Manfred said. “And I mean that just in terms of making sure when you bring something to the big leagues, you got to make sure you got it right.
“We have made material progress. I think the technology is good to 100th of an inch. The technology in terms of the path of the ball is pluperfect. That’s No. 1. And No. 2, we have listened ... to player input on how they want to see it rolled out. Our focus obviously the second half of this season [in the minors] is on the challenge system and that is almost 100% based on player feedback. And I think that’s important. That’s progress.”
Where's the offense?
Manfred also addressed the dip in offense this season, something that remains a top concern for MLB in trying to enhance the sport’s entertainment value. At the All-Star break, the 4.39 runs per game was down significantly from last season’s 4.62, along with the .242 batting average (.248 a year ago) and .709 OPS (.734). Manfred insisted the RPG stat is the same as it was at this time last season, adding that those numbers tend to heat up with the summer weather. But it’s something he closely monitors nonetheless.
“Declining offense is something that we’ve paid a lot of attention to,” Manfred said, “and will continue to monitor to make a decision as to whether we think we need to do something. You do hear a lot of chatter about the dominance of pitching in the game and that’s absolutely true.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
More MLB news
