Major League Baseball will use robot umpires in 2026

['Associated Press', 'Ronald Blum', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Boston.com 2025-09-23 00:00:00

MLB Major League Baseball will use robot umpires in 2026 "It’s coming. Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee on Tuesday approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026. Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. The independent Atlantic League trialed the system at its 2019 All-Star Game and MLB installed the technology for that year’s Arizona Fall League of top prospects. The challenge system introduces ABS without eliminating pitch framing, a subtle art where catchers use their body and glove to try making borderline pitches look like strikes.