Opening Day has finally arrived in Major League Baseball, and a massive rule change will be in effect when the first pitch is thrown Wednesday.
The game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants in the Bay Area will be the first regular-season MLB game to feature Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenges, which were used in the minor leagues in recent years and made their way into spring training for 2026.
The move to have challenges for ball and strike calls was approved by MLB last fall, and it will make its long-awaited debut as the 30 teams kick off their seasons this week.
But how will the new system work?
For starters, every single MLB player was carefully measured before the season began so that the technology can determine where the bottom of the strike zone, located at the knees, and at the top, at chest-level, are located for every single player.
For those seeking total precision, the strike zone is 17 inches wide (the width of home plate), and is 27% of the height of the batter at their knees and 53.5% of the batter’s height at their chest.
As opposed to instant replay challenges, which are made at the discretion of the manager, ABS challenges can only be initiated by players on the field. Pitchers and catchers can challenge a call of a ball that they want overturned to a strike, and batters can do the same for pitches they think were outside of the strike zone.
Challenges must be made immediately and without assistance from the dugout. The player wanting the review to take place must tap their helmet or hat, according to league rules.
The ABS system will then generate a visual of where the ball crossed the plate, and that information will be displayed within the stadium.
Each team starts a game with two challenges apiece. If a team is successful with its challenge, then they retain that challenge, but if they’re unsuccessful, they lose it.
In extra-inning games, teams will receive one new challenge at the start of each inning.
For Cubs and White Sox fans, the system will make its regular season debut on Thursday, with the Cubs game starting at 1:20 p.m. at Wrigley Field and the White Sox game at 1:10 p.m. at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Fans can also see the system in action in a doubleheader on NBC Chicago. The New York Mets will host the Pittsburgh Pirates at 12:15 p.m., and the Los Angeles Dodgers will host the Arizona Diamondbacks at 7:30 p.m.
Both games will also stream on Peacock.
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