In the spring training battle of pitchers, catchers and batters vs. borderline strike calls from umpires, the players prevailed – but just barely.
Major League Baseball’s tryout of a challenge system utilizing automatic ball-strike technology resulted in 52.2% of calls getting overturned, according to data furnished by the league.
The Hawk-Eye technology that fuels the ABS zone was available in 13 ballparks and for 288 Cactus and Grapefruit league games played this spring, resulting in an average of 4.1 challenges per game. The challenge system was largely lauded by players, managers and fans, perhaps most notably because the impact on game play was minimal.