Major League Baseball is set to introduce the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System in the 2026 season, allowing teams to contest balls and strikes called by home-plate umpires using real-time pitch tracking. Despite its implementation, Atlanta Braves‘ starting pitcher Chris Sale has voiced strong opposition to this new system, making it clear he will never utilize the challenge option.
The ABS system grants each team two challenges per game, starting with the Yankees and Giants matchup on March 25, as fans and players finally gain the means to question umpire decisions on balls and strikes. However, Sale, a Cy Young Award winner and nine-time All-Star, expressed his refusal to become part of this process, emphasizing his role as a pitcher rather than an umpire.
Chris Sale’s Firm Stance Against Using the ABS Challenge
When asked about the new rule, Sale stated definitively,
“I will never challenge a pitch. I will never do it,”
reported Justin Felder from Fox Sports 5. He explained,
“Because I’m not an umpire. That’s their job. I’m a starting pitcher. I’ve never called balls and strikes in my life. Plus, I’m greedy – and I know that. I think they’re all strikes. Catchers nowadays, the way they catch the ball and the way they receive, they make them all look like strikes.”
Sale’s comments highlight his discomfort and frustration with the idea of questioning the calls made by officials, underlining his belief that pitching and umpiring should remain separate responsibilities.
Understanding How the ABS Challenge System Will Operate
The ABS Challenge System is designed to apply universally across all MLB stadiums. Each pitch’s exact location is tracked relative to the batter’s strike zone, providing an objective measure to assess calls. Players may challenge calls they believe are incorrect, triggering a graphic display that is transmitted instantaneously via T-Mobile’s 5G network. This information will appear on stadium videoboards and be available to home viewers through the broadcast.
In cases where teams use all their allotted challenges before extra innings, they will receive an additional challenge for each extra inning played, though unused extra-inning challenges do not accumulate beyond the current inning.
There is also potential for an ABS challenge and a traditional video replay challenge to occur simultaneously on the same play, though this scenario is expected to be rare.
Potential Impact of the ABS Challenge System on MLB Gameplay
With the introduction of the ABS Challenge System, MLB aims to improve call accuracy and enhance game fairness by reducing umpire errors on balls and strikes. However, the system has sparked tension among players like Chris Sale, who prefer to trust the judgment of umpires rather than intervene through technology-driven challenges.
As the 2026 season approaches, all eyes will be on how players and teams adapt to this technological innovation and whether resistance from key figures such as Sale influences its reception. The new rules could change game dynamics and strategies, potentially impacting pitcher behavior and umpire authority in critical moments.
“I will never challenge a pitch. I’m not an umpire. That’s their job.”
Chris Sale says he will never use MLB’s new automated ball strike challenge system pic.twitter.com/wSTrcs4u6g
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 13, 2026
