MLB on Tuesday announced that the ABS Challenge System will be utilized for the first time during the 2026 spring training, regular season and postseason.

Major League Baseball dropped a long-awaited bombshell on September 23, as the Joint Competition Committee unanimously approved the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System.

Major League Baseball has announced today that the the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System will be in place for the 2026 season. MLB has been testing this system in recent years, including in AAA for the last few seasons and in spring training this season. Per MLB, the rules for ABS challenges are as follows:

MLB will be adding an ABS Challenge System, which will see balls and strikes being challenged to further perfect the game.

Banfield became a free agent after playing last season for the Miami Marlins' Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Expert MLB daily picks: Unique MLB betting insights only at USA TODAY A second-round pick of the Marlins in the 2018 MLB draft, Banfield hit .

The Astros pitcher claims he didn't intentionally injure a rookie teammate on a cross-up, but at least one team isn't interested in signing him as a free agent.