2026 MLB Talk & Such

[JSngry]

I saw that first ABS challenge today and didn't mind it. This time.

[Dan Gould]

ABS made a big difference in Bosox game ... inning ending strikeout turned into inning-extending walk, followed immediately by two RBI singles that turned 1-0 game into 3-0 game.

I was actually surprised that Cincinnati had challenges left in their half of the 9th, as the strikezone box suggested at least two bad strike calls by the ump.  Did they hold off because none of them were strike 3 or on a 3 ball count? Chapman got 3 flyouts and I don't think he got to 3 balls.

New world.

[GA Russell]

 

[ghost of miles]

Of course I'm lovin' ASB for the sake of Aaron Judge alone--Yankee fans have long been anticipating its implementation, given his usually MLB-leading status for most balls-called-strikes pretty much since his full-time debut in 2017. Crazy that that first challenge of his was only 1/10 of an inch below the zone, but it changed the nature of the at-bat to his advantage, and he went on to homer in a 3-2 count. 

But I'm also enjoying checking out the clips of ASB in action around all of MLB, and it seems the fans at the games are generally enthusiastic about it? It does add a few more moments of replay drama and uncertainty to the game, and it's much quicker than a play challenge. And I'm not going to miss Aaron Boone and other managers screaming as much at the umps over blown calls or multiple blown calls, though it's pretty hilarious that we've already had a manager thrown out over an ASB challenge... but he was objecting on the grounds that the batter had not tapped his helmet quickly enough. *There* lay the potential for future manager/umpire dust-ups over ball-and-strike calls, if that is one's thing. 

I'll also be interested to see, as the season develops, whether the outcomes of ASB challenges end up statistically favoring pitchers or hitters, or if the outcomes are roughly equal. 

[Patrick]

Chase DeLauter!!

[Ken Dryden]

If they still have kangaroo courts in clubhouses, players will be fining those who lose ABS challenges in good fun.