MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has announced plans to submit a proposal for a new automated ball-strike challenge system to the league’s competition committee this offseason. This system could debut ahead of the 2026 Opening Day. During the spring training, MLB tested the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge, along with various iterations at the minor-league level.

The competition committee, established in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, is composed of six team owners, four players, and one umpire. Thus, Manfred’s initiative has a solid chance of passing irrespective of the responses from players and umpires regarding the proposal.

“My single biggest concern is working through the process and deploying it in a way that’s acceptable to the players,” Manfred stated. “There’s always going to be things around the edges that we need to work through and whatever, and I want them to feel like we respected the committee process.”

As previously detailed by CBS Sports, the ABS system considers individual player heights rather than a standard strike zone, maintaining much of the strike-calling power with human umpires. Teams would receive two challenges for calls deemed questionable, significantly reducing the time taken to complete each challenge.

Manfred’s intentions to implement the ABS challenge system have been evident since last fall as part of MLB’s objective to modernize the game.