Major League Baseball is close to implementing the ABS challenge system in the Major Leagues in the future. It’s being used in the minors and was just used during the All-Star Game.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal saw the benefits of the ABS challenge system, getting a call overturned in his favor from a ball to a strike to notch an All-Star Game strikeout.
But even though he’s seen the benefits from it already, Skubal, in a piece from USA Today writer Bob Nightengale, shared a blunt statement on the eventual implementation of the ABS challenge system in the major leagues.
“If the rule is coming, it doesn’t matter what I feel like,” Skubal said. “You have to make adjustments. It’s the same thing with the pitch clock and not being able to shift anymore. It doesn’t matter what players feel like. We don’t have much say in our own game. Whatever they want, they push through, and this seems to be something that they want, so you might as well get used to it.”
Skubal’s comments are telling. While he may feel frustrated at the ABS challenge system being implemented, he knows he has no say in whether it’s brought to the Majors or not.
He’s also calling out the players’ lack of control over the game they’re playing. While the MLB makes new rules, there isn’t as much input from the players about those new rule changes.
But, with the recent string of successful changes, there’s no chance that ABS isn’t implemented in the Majors. The pitch clock has been great for the game, while the shift ban and other rule changes haven’t been received too negatively.
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There are still areas of the game that could use improving or altering, but the ABS challenge system is aiming to take some of the control out of the umpire’s hands.
The human element of umpiring has frustrated players, managers, and fans alike. ABS will bring about huge change, and will begin to take away from that human element.
The ABS challenge system, already getting used in the minors, has also been working well so far. Across baseball, the fans are ready, while the players might not be. It’s a huge change, even if it doesn’t seem like much.
Walks might turn into strikeouts, and vice versa. There are a lot of changes that could occur if umpires were perfect, which ABS tries to accomplish.
While Skubal is ready for it, he’s frustrated by his lack of control over what new rules get put into the game. ABS is just another example of the lack of control from the players. Reluctantly, Skubal is prepared for the implementation of ABS that’s on the horizon.
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