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The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a 7-3 start in spring training, but have struggled with a key part of the game in the coming season.
The Automated Ball-Strike system will make its debut in MLB this season, and most teams are getting the hang of things during spring training. The Dodgers are the exception to that rule, as they have by far been the worst team as far as ABS challenges go.
Dodgers batters have lost five of six challenges, and Dodgers pitchers and catchers have lost six of eight. No team has won fewer challenges than the Dodgers, and their inversion percentage overall is the worst in MLB.
Alex Call is the only Dodgers batter to initiate a successful challenge, with pitchers Alex Vesia and Wyatt Mills winning challenges from the mound.
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Feb 26, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of the scoreboard during an ABS ball and strike challenge by the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. The umpires call would be overturned. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
What is the ABS System?
The ABS system uses technology to determine if a pitch is a ball or a strike. Umpires will still be used in games, but each team can challenge a ball or strike call if they see fit.
MiLB has employed the challenge system since 2022, and MLB integrated the system due to supportive fan polling and approval from the Joint Competition Committee in Sept. 2025.
Teams will have two challenges per game, and will maintain their challenge if they use one and are successful. Only batters, pitchers and catchers can initiate a challenge, which means managers and coaches will not be able to do so.
The ABS system doesn’t have a set zone, and determines how a player’s strike zone will look using the following parameters, per BaseballSavant.
“The ABS zone is set as follows: the top is 53.5% of a player’s measured height without cleats, the bottom is 27%, and pitch location is captured above the middle of the plate, not the front,” the site reads.
Challenging players must immediately issue their challenge if it is to count, meaning they can’t go back several pitchers to change a ball to a strike or vice versa.
Umpires also have the right to disallow a challenge if they determine a third party influenced the player to challenge the call, as well as if the challenge doesn’t come in a timely manner.
Do you think adding the ABS system is a good change for MLB?
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