March 27, 2026

MLB ABS 101: A Visual Guide to the New Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System.

When is the best time to challenge a ball/strike? Also, what Milwaukee was doing during spring training by putting up a card on the dugout fence earned them a slap from the league office. The rule states that only a player can challenge a call, but MLB viewed the cards that Milwaukee was using as instructions from the coaching staff. Of course, it wasn't a specific instruction to challenge the latest call, but rather it was just letting the batter know that it was a good time to challenge if the batter thought it should be done.

posted by NoMich to baseball at 04:49 PM - 3 comments

When is the best time to challenge? Any time C.B. Bucknor has the plate. He was challenged 7 times and missed 6 of them (some claim he missed as many as 26 calls), thus reinforcing his reputation as the worst ball-and-strike umpire in MLB. Some of the incorrect calls were on pitches that missed by more than 2 inches. It would not surprise me if a lot of those who closely follow the game keep a score sheet on Bucknor, or perhaps all MLB Umpires. There's no special secret to having an accurate and consistent strike zone. Experience is probably the best way to develop, but equally necessary is total concentration behind the plate. For perhaps 20 years I worked the plate at very low level of baseball. Over the years my zone improved, but the first couple of games each season were usually an adventure. It's not easy, but maintaining your concentration will help. C. B. Bucknor has been a major league umpire for 30 years, and he has a month of spring training to use for a tune-up. He has no excuse.

posted by Howard_T at 04:04 PM on March 29, 2026

Jomboy has a video talking about the Bucknor game.

Lindsey asks a good question regarding this new system: what is the margin of error? There's got to be one.

posted by NoMich at 04:32 PM on March 30, 2026

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