How Yankees are preparing for new ‘robot’ strike zone system

It’s the bottom of the ninth, tying run on second base with two outs. Aaron Judge is at the plate with a 2-2 count. He watches a 99-mph fastball go by him below the knees that looks like ball three, except the home plate umpire rings him up for strike three. Game over.

Judge immediately taps his helmet to challenge the call, only to realize the Yankees are out of challenges. Carlos Rodón had used one trying to dispute a 1-2 pitch in the third inning, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. wasted another on a rather meaningless 1-1 pitch in the fifth inning.

Shaking his head, Judge walks off the field as the Yankee Stadium crowd boos, unsure of who it is blaming the most — the umpire, Rodón, Chisholm or the rules of the new automated ball-strike system itself.

This is the potential reality staring down teams in 2026 as Major League Baseball introduces the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike System) challenge process for games that actually count, not just a spring training trial, as in 2025. Back then, the Yankees did not have any hard-and-fast rules about who could challenge pitches or when they could challenge pitches, because it was the Grapefruit League and none of it really mattered.