Major League Baseball will introduce an automated ball-strike challenge system in 2026, marking the league’s first step toward robot-assisted umpiring at the big-league level.
The decision, approved this week by the league’s joint competition committee, follows years of testing in the minors and special events to find a system that improves accuracy without disrupting the game’s flow.
Rather than a fully automated strike zone, MLB opted for a hybrid format that lets teams challenge calls on balls and strikes. Players successfully used the system during the 2025 All-Star Game, where each club was granted two challenges and kept them if correct. In 2026, teams will begin every game with two challenges and gain an additional one in extra innings if needed. League officials said the system performed quickly and smoothly during testing, earning widespread support from players and managers.
MLB first experimented with automated strike zones in the Atlantic League in 2019 and gradually expanded to affiliated minor leagues.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].