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Next week’s MLB All-Star game looks a little different than in previous years.
Midsummer Classic will be the first non-spring training game containing Automatic Balls and Strikes System (ABS), according to ESPN.
The system was a full-go in spring training this year after several seasons in smaller leagues. Teams got two challenges per Battle, but was able to preserve every challenge that was won. Only the dough, pitcher or catcher could challenge a call, and it had to be immediately after the call without the help of the bench or other players.
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The All-Star Game logo on a sign in Truist Park during a game between Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels. (Brett Davis-Preferred Pictures)
The system needed some fine -tuning at that time, but apparently enough has been done for Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office to introduce a proposal to MLB’s competition committee to have the system in place in 2026, a Goals he had in mind Last summer.
“I think teams are really positive to ABS. You know I have the unscientific system that I use -my E -Mail traffic -and my clear impression is that using ABS in spring training has made people more likely to complain about balls and strike calls via e -mail, to me to refer to the need for ABS.
ESPN noted that 72% of fans who were polleted during spring training said their experience at stake with ABS was “positive,” against only 10% was negative.

Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during Grapefruit League Spring Training Media Day on George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 15, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Carlson/MLB photos via Getty Images)
Smaller League Candes called to go after being frightened by solid thunderstorms during childbirth
In a new era with larger bases, shift restrictions and pitch, this would probably be the biggest change of them all, and it would come in a very wild time: A lockout is threatening with MLB’s collective negotiation agreement due to the end of December next year.
However, fans seem to like the changes as participation has risen in each of the last two years. It was the first time since 2011 and 2012 that participation grew in back-to-back seasons.

Colorado Rockies Interim Manager Warren Schaeffer is pushed out of a judge during the Brewers game, Sunday 29 June 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
The All-Star game will take place on Tuesday in Atlanta. It was originally planned there in 2021, but was moved to Coors Field after the state’s adoption of the election integrity law of 2021, which included new voter requirements.



