Cardinals using spring games to strategize review of called balls and strikes
Pitchers endlessly fiddling with their caps and gloves on the mound is a proud baseball tradition nearly as old as the game itself, but when Cody Poteet of the Chicago Cubs tapped the top of his head on Thursday afternoon, it marked a turning point in the history of the big leagues.
Poteet’s gesture was a signal to the umpiring crew that he wished to challenge the previous pitch, called a ball, under the auspices of the automated balls and strikes (ABS) system being tried out across spring training parks as games get underway. His challenge – a successful one which flipped a ball into a strike – was the first of its kind in a big league game, and will be a fun trivia factoid to remember as the newest technological wave inevitably washes over the game.
When Major League Baseball and its umpires’ union completed a new collective bargaining agreement this winter, it was done with language that would allow the system to be implemented in MLB games as soon as the 2026 regular season. All indications are that the league will hit that target, fundamentally altering the system which has been in place since the apocryphal days of Abner Doubleday.
“Definitely plays into [game planning] and you create a strategy for it,” St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. “We’ve given it thought, we’ve talked about it as a staff, and we’ll have that meeting with the players.”
The system in place at Roger Dean Stadium and the other ballparks throughout Florida and Arizona which are fully equipped with Statcast tracking technology does not fully automate the strike zone, but rather tracks every pitch in case a challenge is offered. A pitcher, catcher or batter can signal an intent to challenge by tapping the top of their head, and the home plate umpire then signals the ABS system operator for a ruling which is quickly relayed back to the field.
Each team receives two challenges at the outset of a game, but a successful challenge returns that attempt to the team’s inventory.
The challenge system has been tested alongside a fully automated system in the minor leagues since the 2022 season, and has been roundly approved by players on both sides of the ball as the best way to maintain the flow of the game while also filling in potential gaps in zone accuracy.
“Everything looks like a strike,” said Cardinals top catching prospect and reigning minor league player of the year Jimmy Crooks. “We were taught [to] use it pretty late and, like, pretty big situations. If there’s bases loaded, 3-2 [count], close call, yeah, I’m gonna probably challenge it.”
That Crooks, rather than his pitchers, would be the one to challenge a call on the defensive side of the ball is no accident. An informal poll around the Cardinals clubhouse of pitchers resulted in nearly all of them conceding the underlying concern that coaches may have about the system – most pitchers think most pitches they throw are strikes.
“I just let the catcher do it,” lefty starter Steven Matz said. “Otherwise I’d be tapping [my hat] every time.”
Outfielder Matt Koperniak, who spent all of 2024 at Triple-A Memphis, got a deep education in the process last summer. After the Triple-A leagues spent the first half of the year dividing weeks between full ABS and the challenge system, they transitioned to a challenge-only format on June 25, creating a significant data set from which MLB could inform themselves on the best path forward.
“I think it’s definitely helped the hitters,” Koperniak said. “They can key on a different pitch. You don’t have to worry too much about the high pitches; a lot of them are being called balls. If it goes up into the majors, I’m assuming it’ll be similar to that. It definitely changes the approach a little bit for the hitters.”
Pitchers who have shuttled between the minors and majors over the last three seasons have lodged similar concerns, losing the ability to locate fastballs at the belt or slightly above. As a result, those pitches become takes, and hitters can hunt under more favorable conditions. Forcing the zone lower also means breaking balls which dive down lose some of their effectiveness, as there’s less need to worry about covering them on that vertical plane.
Cardinals hitters lined up on Thursday to have their height precisely measured by MLB officials, as well as being photographed from a full 360 degrees, in order to correctly calibrate the system.
Broader adjustments are already underway. The Athletic reported this week that MLB is likely to request its broadcast partners remove the strike zone overlays from television broadcasts in order to prevent real time relaying of information to players which could alter challenge decisions, heading off another potential round of trash can malfeasance a la Houston at the pass.
While there will inevitably be hiccups in the early going – and almost certainly some unanticipated changes to pitching arsenals in the years to come – the time and investment the league has put into the system fully gives away the ending. This will not be a temporary change, barring a system-wide failure. The future of umpiring is upon the game, and it rests in the machines.
“It was a new skill we had to do when we wanted to use our challenges during the game,” Koperniak said. “Kind of adds a different skill, or whatever you want to call it, to the game.”
