All-Star Game will debut the ABS challenge system

[Brock Beauchamp]

The ABS challenge system will get in front of the most fans in the game that matters the least. It's a pretty good combo to demonstrate this technology. What do you think of the challenge system?

https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/milwaukee-brewers/the-abs-challenge-system-is-the-newest-addition-to-this-years-mlb-all-star-roster-r3574/

[Rob]

I don't mind a challenge system so much. But I dread this becoming an every-pitch system.

I like the human element. And no, I'm not here for the ump show. But I like watching catchers try to frame a pitch.

Additionally, I think that framing as a practice increases the value of pitches that trail back towards the zone -- as those are the ones with a higher probability of being successfully framed. A lot of damage can be done on those pitches when they trail a bit too far back into the zone. I worry that with a fully-automatic system, we'd be looking at a lot more pitchers trying to nick the edge of the zone with pitches trailing away -- sliders mostly. I don't want every plate appearance to look the way pitchers faced Javier Baez.