Colorado Rockies news and links for Tuesday, April 1, 2025
If you’re like me, you appreciated the opportunity in spring training to was the Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS) in action. It was an initiative Major League Baseball, always on a quest to improve the game, brought to MLB in giving the system a test drive.
In case you’re interested in specifics, Anthony Castrovince explained back in February,
In the ABS challenge system, the human, home-plate umpire calls balls and strikes, per usual. But Hawk-Eye technology is running in the background, monitoring the exact location of the pitch relative to the batter’s strike zone. This allows players to ask for a challenge of a ball or strike call that they feel the umpire got wrong. (Hawk-Eye has provided core data for ball, player, and bat tracking for Statcast since 2019.)
The challenge system should not be confused with just ABS, which would be “robo umps” calling a game. The challenge system is an attempt to get the best of both worlds. It would reward pitchers who are able to dot the zone as well as catchers who are skilled at framing while creating a corrective for egregious calls.
Plus, there’s a strategic element: When should a team use its challenges, and who is best-suited to taking advantage of them?
MLB has been exploring ABS since 2019. The ABS system was first explored in the independent Atlantic League with the challenge system tested in the 2022 Florida State League. In 2023 and 2024, MLB implemented both systems in Triple-A baseball, but by the end of 2024, the challenge system became the preferred option.
Trying it out in MLB’s spring training seemed the next logical step.
Teams were allotted two challenges, a decision based on fan feedback from those earlier tests.
According to Castrovince, “Three-challenge games had an average of 5.8 challenges per game, while two-challenge games had an average of 3.9 challenges per game.” In surveys, a majority of fans said that having four or fewer challenges per game was optimal, and 62% of two-challenge games met this criteria. (Three-challenge games were significantly less successful in meeting the criteria.)
In terms of spring training sample size, 13 facilities (home to 19 teams) were equipped to pilot the ABS challenge system, which was used in approximately 60% of spring training games.
Last week, MLB released the initial data.
As Theo DeRosa explains, “According to data released Wednesday by MLB, 52.2% of ball-strike challenges this spring resulted in a successful overturn of the home-plate umpire’s original call — up from 50.6% when the technology was used in Triple-A in 2024.”
More specifically, the team on defense were more successful than the hitting team (54.4% compared to 50.0%, respectively). Additionally, catchers were more successful (56%) than pitchers (41%) in successful challenges.
A challenge added, on average, 13.8 seconds to a game, a speedier review than the 16.6 second average of Triple-A. Spring training games averaged 4.1 challenges per game.
Also, spring training games were slightly longer (2 hours, 38 minutes) than the 2023-24 average (2 hours, 35 minutes).
Unsurprisingly, calls were more likely to be challenged in high-leverage count, but those challenges were less successful. As DeRosa puts it, “Just 44% of 2-2 or 3-2 pitches were overturned, compared to a 57% overturn rate on the first pitch of a plate appearance.”
In case you’re interested in Colorado Rockies-specific numbers, the team did not track ABS challenge data during spring training.
Should you need a refresher, here’s a reply from last month.
For my money, MLB cannot implement the ABS challenge system fast enough.
In the past, I’ve been an advocate for robo umps, but I found that the ABS Challenge system provided a perfect blend of skill and technology. Someone on social media pointed out that fans would like robo umps a lot less than they thought they would, and after only watching a few challenges, it was easy to understand why: Pitchers and catchers were punished for being skillful at exploiting the zone with an objective computer making the call.
That said, umpires aren’t perfect, and the ABS Challenge system provides a gentle corrective that requires some strategy on the part of teams: When is the best time to use a challenge?
Plus, it injects some suspense into the game: Everyone is watching the scoreboard, waiting for the answer to be revealed.
As Rockies manager Bud Black noted during spring training, “I like it,” adding, “I think it adds another element for fan engagement.” Catcher Austin Nola, who had Triple-A experience with ABS, agreed, also pointing to the strategic component.
Clearly, we won’t be seeing the ABS challenge system this year at the MLB level, but implementation in 2026 would be a win for the game.
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This weekend on the internet
While watching a Colorado Rockies game, you’ve probably seen that spot with Brenton Doyle in the cage explaining how he warms up for hitting. Here he is discussing his process at length with the MLB Network:
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The saga continues
This week, the Rockies dropped more of their Rockies TV commercials. Here’s Ezequiel Tovar’s “Love Is Blind” send-off:
It is so great to have Rockies commercials back!
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These Rox prospects just missed roster, but could still factor in ‘25 | MLB.com
In his weekly newsletter, Thomas Harding discusses what’s on the horizon for Adael Amador, Chase Dollander, Jaden Hill, Zac Veen, and Zach Agnos. Schmidt explains what each player needs to work on before getting to Coors Field.
Mark Kizla spoke with Kris Bryant about his struggles at the plate, asking the former NL MVP if he’s pressing: “Maybe a little bit, for sure,” Bryant said, adding, “I think it’s pretty normal for early in the season. I think we all kinda go through that. You just want to get off to a good start. You want your first everything. I’ve been through a lot of opening days in my life, and it’s always the same feeling. It doesn’t change from Little League to pro ball.”
Kizla, however, thinks the time is coming for the Rockies to reckon with their former superstar, writing, “Sooner or later, like it or not, the Rockies will have to admit they struck out by signing Kris with a K.”
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