CLEVELAND, Ohio — Robot umpires have not yet entered the chat, but their arrival is imminent.
Tuesday’s announcement that Major League Baseball will fully adopt an automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system beginning in 2026 sent shockwaves throughout baseball this week. But the news also means big league ballparks must get ready to accommodate the technology.
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Prior to Wednesday’s Guardians game against the Tigers, the scoreboard at Progressive Field displayed several animations, giving those in the park a glimpse of what the ABS system could look like once it is used in games next season.
While the videos served as a strong visual representation, the Guardians still need to add equipment and upgrade technology during the offseason in order to accommodate the new system.
The ABS challenge system runs on a 5G private network from T-Mobile. Twelve Hawk-Eye cameras set up around the perimeter of the field track the location of each pitch.
The pitch location is compared to the batter’s strike zone, and if any part of the ball touches any part of the strike zone, the pitch will be considered a strike. The home plate umpire will announce the challenge to the fans in the ballpark and a graphic showing the outcome of the challenge will be displayed on the scoreboard and broadcast.
The entire process takes approximately 15 seconds.
On Tuesday, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, a catcher during his 12-year playing career, said adding the ABS system will be a big change, but it is inevitable.
“You can like it, dislike it, it doesn’t matter. It’s coming,” Vogt said. “We’ll figure out what all that entails and how we’re going to implement that into our strategy or how we’re going to police it, however you want to say. But it’s coming and we’ve got six months to figure it out.”