Phillies will test-drive the automated ball-strike challenge system this spring
A missed call on a possible strikeout was costly in the playoff loss to the Dodgers. The new ABS challenge system goes into effect this season and the Phillies can fine-tune how they'll use it.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Four innings before Orion Kerkering’s error sealed the Phillies’ fate in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Division Series, home plate umpire Mark Wegner made a call that may have helped tilt the game.
Cristopher Sánchez’s 2-2 pitch to Alex Call in the seventh, which caught the inside edge of the plate, was called a ball. What could have been a strikeout ultimately became a walk, and Justin Dean, who pinch ran for Call, went on to score the tying run in a game the Los Angeles Dodgers won, 2-1, in 11 innings.
In the quiet clubhouse after the Phillies were eliminated, Sánchez said that Wegner actually apologized to him for missing the strike.
“He knows he missed it,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “He knows he missed it because he told me, and he apologized to me. But a lot of pressure, important game, important situation, you can’t miss those things. You can’t miss those calls.”
With the automated ball-strike challenge system arriving to MLB in 2026, it’s possible those impactful misses could be a thing of the past. Under the system, each team starts with two challenges, which can be used by the pitcher, catcher, or batter to challenge a pitch call. If a challenge is unsuccessful, the team loses it.
According to the rules, challenges must be made immediately after the umpire’s call, and no input from the bench or manager is allowed. A team without challenges in extra innings will receive an additional one.
The Phillies piloted the system during spring training last year, and they will use this spring as a chance to get further acclimated.
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“I think it will change the game a lot late, just making sure those calls are right in the biggest moments,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “Even if a team challenges and they’re wrong, at least you know the call is right. So I think that’s going to be big later on.”
Some critics of the system think that ABS removes the “human element” of baseball in the umpire’s strike zone.
“It’s kind of now that human element’s back on the players,” Turner said. “So that’s kind of interesting. It’s going to be fun to watch.”
The Phillies will eventually develop a strategy for using ABS as the regular season begins. Some teams only allow catchers to challenge, rather than pitchers, since they have a better vantage point. Teams also might prefer to save their challenges for after a certain inning of the game.
But for the first few weeks of spring training, Phillies manager Rob Thomson will have no rules.
“We need to push them to use it, so that they can learn,” Thomson said. “And as the situations come up, we just talk them through it. ‘This might be a situation where you should use it,’ even if they didn’t. ‘No, maybe that’s not the situation.’ But we still want them to try and get some experience with it.”
Turner said that typically, when he has disagreed with umpires’ calls at the plate and then reviewed the footage later, he is often right about pitches he thought were inside or outside, but has been wrong about pitches high or low.
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“I think that’s part of this. You’ve got to know what you’re good at, and where you’re good at,” he said. “I don’t plan on challenging too much, but if I do, I’ll probably be on the corners more so than up and down. And I think some guys are good at some things, and you’re going to have to learn.”
Extra bases
Zack Wheeler threw out to 120 feet for the first time Monday as he continues his rehab from thoracic outlet decompression surgery. Thomson said he did not have a date for when Wheeler will get on a mound, but “he’s getting there.” ... Kerkering (mild hamstring strain) is running and doing agility drills and threw on flat ground. The next step is a light bullpen session, possibly on Wednesday, according to Thomson. ... Brandon Marsh cut his foot off the field and did not fully participate in the workout, although he did glove work and played catch. “It’s minor,” Thomson said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out there hitting [Tuesday].”