2026 MLB Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge Analysis
An automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge lets the batter, pitcher, or catcher contest a called ball or strike, which is then re-judged by the automated strike zone. Each team starts a game with two challenges; a successful (overturned) challenge is retained, a failed one is spent. Teams that run out in regulation get one additional challenge for each extra inning they begin without one.
All figures below are for the 2026 MLB regular season.
Challenges by Position
- Who challenges, and how often the call is overturned.
| Pos | Chal | Overturned | Overturn% |
|---|---|---|---|
| catcher | 2296 | 1363 | 59.4 |
| batter | 2064 | 978 | 47.4 |
| pitcher | 92 | 32 | 34.8 |
| Total | 4452 | 2373 | 53.3 |
By Inning & Challenges Remaining
- Based on how many challenges the team had remaining when it challenged in each inning.
| 2 Challenges Left | 1 Challenge Left | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inn | Chal | OT | OT% | Chal | OT | OT% |
| 1 | 407 | 245 | 60.2 | 16 | 13 | 81.3 |
| 2 | 361 | 219 | 60.7 | 23 | 12 | 52.2 |
| 3 | 342 | 193 | 56.4 | 67 | 37 | 55.2 |
| 4 | 376 | 195 | 51.9 | 80 | 55 | 68.8 |
| 5 | 354 | 210 | 59.3 | 107 | 60 | 56.1 |
| 6 | 384 | 201 | 52.3 | 140 | 74 | 52.9 |
| 7 | 376 | 209 | 55.6 | 178 | 103 | 57.9 |
| 8 | 312 | 136 | 43.6 | 254 | 133 | 52.4 |
| 9 | 300 | 109 | 36.3 | 291 | 133 | 45.7 |
| 10 | 11 | 2 | 18.2 | 54 | 26 | 48.1 |
| 11 | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 11 | 5 | 45.5 |
| 12 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 40.0 | |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |
By Ball-Strike Count
- Count the pitch was thrown in (before the pitch).
| Count | All Challenges | As Batter | Defense (C/P) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balls | Strikes | Chal | OT% | Chal | OT% | Chal | OT% |
| 0 | 0 | 967 | 58.9 | 379 | 51.2 | 588 | 63.9 |
| 0 | 1 | 491 | 57.8 | 202 | 42.6 | 289 | 68.5 |
| 0 | 2 | 244 | 52.5 | 114 | 44.7 | 130 | 59.2 |
| 1 | 0 | 428 | 57.9 | 199 | 62.3 | 229 | 54.1 |
| 1 | 1 | 423 | 55.1 | 239 | 47.7 | 184 | 64.7 |
| 1 | 2 | 360 | 49.2 | 173 | 41.0 | 187 | 56.7 |
| 2 | 0 | 187 | 55.1 | 79 | 65.8 | 108 | 47.2 |
| 2 | 1 | 291 | 51.2 | 154 | 41.6 | 137 | 62.0 |
| 2 | 2 | 405 | 48.4 | 200 | 39.0 | 205 | 57.6 |
| 3 | 0 | 62 | 58.1 | 24 | 62.5 | 38 | 55.3 |
| 3 | 1 | 184 | 50.0 | 88 | 58.0 | 96 | 42.7 |
| 3 | 2 | 410 | 38.3 | 213 | 36.6 | 197 | 40.1 |
By Baserunners
- Base-occupancy state before the challenged pitch.
| Baserunners | Chal | Overturn% |
|---|---|---|
| Bases empty | 2310 | 55.1 |
| Runner on 1st | 870 | 53.1 |
| Runner on 2nd | 352 | 53.4 |
| Runner on 3rd | 100 | 46.0 |
| Runners on 1st & 2nd | 381 | 53.3 |
| Runners on 1st & 3rd | 146 | 50.7 |
| Runners on 2nd & 3rd | 104 | 48.1 |
| Bases loaded | 189 | 41.3 |
By Leverage Index (LI)
- Leverage index (LI) measures how much the game situation -- inning, score, outs, baserunners -- can swing on the play. 1.0 is an average situation; higher means higher stakes.
| Leverage | Chal | Avg LI | Overturn% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 - 0.5 (very low) | 1331 | 0.23 | 51.2 |
| 0.5 - 1.0 (low) | 1293 | 0.76 | 56.7 |
| 1.0 - 1.5 (medium) | 776 | 1.23 | 51.7 |
| 1.5 - 2.5 (high) | 678 | 1.90 | 56.6 |
| 2.5+ (very high) | 374 | 3.72 | 46.5 |
By Month
- Challenge rates by month -- per game (both teams) and overturn rate, split by who challenged.
| Total | Batters | Catchers | Pitchers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | G | Chal/G | OT/G | OT% | Chal/G | OT/G | OT% | Chal/G | OT/G | OT% | Chal/G | OT/G | OT% |
| March | 76 | 3.76 | 2.04 | 54.2 | 1.76 | 0.87 | 49.3 | 1.91 | 1.13 | 59.3 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 42.9 |
| April | 392 | 4.19 | 2.23 | 53.3 | 1.93 | 0.88 | 45.4 | 2.17 | 1.32 | 60.8 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 41.2 |
| May | 419 | 4.06 | 2.11 | 51.9 | 1.89 | 0.89 | 47.3 | 2.09 | 1.19 | 57.2 | 0.08 | 0.02 | 20.6 |
| June | 181 | 4.55 | 2.55 | 56.0 | 2.10 | 1.07 | 50.9 | 2.35 | 1.43 | 60.9 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 47.1 |
Distribution of Challenges per Team-Game
| Challenges | Team-Games | % of Team-Games |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 198 | 9.3% |
| 1 | 547 | 25.6% |
| 2 | 683 | 32.0% |
| 3 | 431 | 20.2% |
| 4 | 190 | 8.9% |
| 5 | 53 | 2.5% |
| 6 | 23 | 1.1% |
| 7 | 8 | 0.4% |
| 9 | 3 | 0.1% |
Strike-Zone Heatmap
Pitch location from the umpire's view. The bordered 3×3 grid in the middle is the strike zone. The four corner cells are out of the zone — each one covers all the missed pitches beyond that corner, sweeping along the two zone edges it borders (as the arrows show), not a single spot.
- First map: overturn rate (top) and challenge count (bottom), darker = more often overturned.
- Second Map: where batters tend to challenge. -- number of challenges (top) and share of total (bottom)
- Third Map: where pitchers and catchers tend to challenge. -- number of challenges (top) and share of total (bottom)
Overturn rate
43.1%376
→
←
50.0%348
↓
63.6%382
69.2%104
59.2%250
↓
54.1%229
–
52.1%163
↑
55.9%524
55.5%308
49.8%520
↑
49.8%594
→
←
52.9%654
Batter challenges
1628%
→
←
1748%
↓
1397%
322%
1025%
↓
1055%
–
784%
↑
23111%
1377%
26113%
↑
29714%
→
←
34617%
Catcher / pitcher challenges
2149%
→
←
1747%
↓
24310%
723%
1486%
↓
1245%
–
854%
↑
29312%
1717%
25911%
↑
29712%
→
←
30813%
Challenges by Player
By Home Plate Umpire
- Challenges of the home plate umpire's ball/strike calls. A high overturn rate means more of the challenged calls were reversed. Sortable.
Most Overturned Challenges, By a Team in a Game
- Top 25 team-games by overturned challenges.
Earliest Lost Final Challenges
- Failed challenges that left a team with no challenges, ordered by how early in the game they happened. Top 25.
Lost Both Challenges in One Plate Appearance
- Players who challenged twice in the same at-bat and were upheld both times -- two challenges burned in one plate appearance.
Most Games Losing Both Challenges
- Players who lost both of their team's regulation (inning <= 9) challenges in the same game, by how often. Top 25.
Highest Leverage Challenges
- The 25 challenges made in the highest-leverage situations. LI 1.0 is an average situation.
Best Challenges by Catcher/Pitcher
- Overturned ball-to-strike challenges, closest to the center of the zone -- the most obvious missed strikes they caught. Top 25.
Best Challenges by Batter
- Overturned strike-to-ball challenges, farthest outside the zone -- the most obvious missed balls they caught. Top 25.
Worst Challenges by Catcher/Pitcher
- Upheld ball challenges (the call stood), farthest outside the zone -- they challenged obvious balls. Top 25.
Worst Challenges by Batter
- Upheld strike challenges (the call stood), closest to the center -- they challenged obvious strikes. Top 25.
Challenges by Team