ALPB-tested ABS system now throughout AAA

The Atlantic League, as an MLB Partner League, pioneered the use of the Automated Ball-Strike System in all ALPB games from 2019-2022. The success of the system and its implementation in the ALPB has now led to its use throughout MLB’s Class AAA system.

From ESPN via Sports Business Journal:

MLB in a memo to farm directors today indicated that beginning on June 25, all Triple-A games will “use the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system as opposed to full ABS.” For the first half of this season at Triple-A, full ABS was used for Tuesday-Thursday games while the challenge system was used for weekend contests. Now, all games will have the challenge system, which sees challenges to calls on balls and strikes “made by the hitter or catcher in real time with the umpire receiving an answer to the challenge via an earpiece.” The move is “another indication that the league is inching toward implementing the challenge system at the major league level.” However, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said that move is “still at least another season away from happening.” The International League will “experiment with teams only receiving two challenges per game instead of three, which has been the norm” ( ESPN.com, 6/18).