SCOTTSDALE — Major League Baseball finalized rules for the first year of the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system, which will debut on Opening Day this season. Among the latest tweaks, teams will always have at least one challenge in extra innings, even if they have used their two allotted challenges within the first nine innings.
The league announced its final rules and guidelines during Cactus League media day on Thursday, about a week before spring training games begin.
Among the highlights of the new system:
• If a team enters extra innings without a challenge, they’ll be given an extra one every inning. The challenges will not accumulate if not used. Teams will never have more than one challenge per extra inning unless they entered extra frames with their original two intact.
• Umpires will be given discretion on plays that happen on the bases, even when a pitch is being challenged. For example, the outcome of a stolen base attempt is likely to stand no matter the outcome of the challenge, with the lone exception coming on a ball-four or strike-three call that is overturned. If the umpire deems “player behavior” has been impacted — for example, if the catcher stops playing because he hears ball four and the call is overturned — he might send the runner back to his original base and the stolen base won’t count.
• A pitch may not be challenged if a position player is pitching.
• The league is measuring the standing height of each player to determine their individual strike zone, which will be slightly smaller than the umpire called zone.
• It’s possible for both an ABS challenge and video replay challenge to occur on the same play. If that happens, the ball-strike call will be adjudicated first, followed by the video replay on the bases.
Also Thursday, the league announced a tweak to its obstruction rule: A runner who initiates contact with a fielder with the intent to draw an obstruction call will be called out. This sometimes occurs in rundowns when a baserunner purposely runs into a fielder hoping to be declared safe due to obstruction. Umpires have now been told to ignore such attempts and instead call the runner out.
Additionally, owners voted to enforce a rule which requires base coaches to remain in their respective boxes until a pitch is delivered.