Baseball has always been a beautifully imperfect game. It breathes, it argues, it gets things wrong—and somehow, that’s always been part of what makes it right.
But here we are in 2026, watching the New York Yankees rack up wins like they’ve discovered a cheat code… and that cheat code has a name: ABS.
Let’s get something out of the way first—Automated Ball-Strike Systems aren’t inherently evil. The idea of getting calls correct isn’t exactly controversial. Nobody walks into a ballpark thinking, “Boy, I hope the umpire absolutely blows a 3–2 pitch in the ninth.” Accuracy has value.
But what’s happening right now feels less like progress and more like overcorrection. And at the center of it all is Aaron Boone, who, at this point, doesn’t just use ABS—he manages for it. The man isn’t managing a baseball team anymore; he’s managing a tech demo.
And yeah, the Yankees are winning. A lot. But does anyone else find it just a little weird that so many of those wins hinge on ABS challenges?
Because that’s the uncomfortable question: are the Yankees playing better baseball… or just better ABS baseball?
Let's face it, Boone’s new playbook is “When in Doubt, Tap the Screen.” There was a time when managing meant instinct. Feel. Reading the moment. You watched your pitcher, studied the batter, trusted your catcher, and yes—even factored in the umpire.
Now? Boone seems one bad call away from reaching for ABS like it’s his emotional support tablet.
Instead of living with the rhythm of the game, he’s constantly looking for an override button. A borderline pitch doesn’t go his way? Challenge it. A hitter doesn’t like a call? Challenge it. The dugout doesn’t feel right? You guessed it—challenge it.
It’s not strategy anymore. It’s dependency.
The ABS challenge system was supposed to be a safety net. Instead, it’s become a crutch—and Boone looks like he’s leaning on it hard. With ABS, the managerial feel of the game kind of goes away, whether you believe it or no. Baseball has never been about perfection. It’s about adjustments. For decades, players had to figure things out on the fly.
Pitchers and catchers would spend the first few innings decoding the umpire:
-
Does he give the low strike?
-
Is the outside corner a suggestion or a rule?
-
How generous is he on the edges?
That was the chess match. That was the cerebral layer. Now? That entire mental battle is gone. Wiped out by a perfectly calibrated, robotic strike zone that doesn’t change, doesn’t bend, and doesn’t care.
It’s like replacing a jazz band with a metronome. Sure, it’s precise. But it’s also lifeless.
ABS doesn’t just call pitches—it removes the need to understand the game on that deeper level. Players don’t read the umpire anymore. They don’t adapt. They just… comply. And what about the catcher? I guess catching is now a lost art? I love when catchers frame a pitch.
For over a century, great catchers weren’t just defenders—they were illusionists. They could take a borderline pitch and “present” it in a way that convinced an umpire it clipped the zone. It was subtle. It was skilled. It was an art form.
Now? That art is hanging in a museum labeled “Obsolete.” With ABS enforcing a perfectly accurate zone, framing becomes meaningless. There’s no human to deceive, no judgment to influence. The pitch is either in or out—end of story.
So what happens next? Teams stop valuing elite defensive catchers. Why invest in someone who can steal strikes when there are no strikes left to steal? Instead, the focus shifts to offense-only backstops. Just like that, an entire layer of strategy—one that’s existed for generations—gets stripped away. Baseball doesn’t evolve here. It flattens.
And hovering over all of this is Commissioner Rob Manfred, who seems determined to turn baseball into something cleaner, faster, and more… programmable. The ABS system fits perfectly into that vision. It’s neat. It’s precise. It’s marketable.
But here’s the problem: in chasing perfection, Manfred is sanding down everything that made the game unique. The arguments. The missed calls. The tension between players and umpires. The human drama of it all.
Gone—or at least, fading fast. ABS doesn’t just fix mistakes. It removes character.
Because let’s be honest: nobody has ever told a nostalgic baseball story that starts with, “And then the system confirmed the call with 100% accuracy.” They talk about the blown calls. The heated arguments. The managers losing their minds. The moments that felt alive.
Manfred’s version of baseball feels less like a sport and more like a simulation running on high settings.
Here’s where it all comes together. ABS isn’t just a tool—it’s becoming an addiction in my opinion. Just like GPS can slowly erode your ability to navigate on your own, ABS is eroding baseball’s internal instincts. Players and managers are starting to trust the system more than their own eyes.
And Boone? He might be the poster child. Every challenge reinforces the habit. Every successful overturn feeds the belief that the system knows better than the game itself.
It creates an adversarial dynamic with umpires, too. Instead of working within the human framework of the game, teams are constantly trying to beat it through technology.
The flow gets choppy. The rhythm breaks. The game starts to feel less like baseball and more like a series of interruptions.
Look, Yankees fans have every reason to enjoy the wins. A W is a W. But it’s fair to ask: what kind of baseball are we watching?
Because if teams start building strategies around exploiting ABS challenges rather than playing the organic, messy, beautifully human game we’ve always known, then something fundamental is changing.
And not necessarily for the better. Aaron Boone hasn’t just embraced ABS—he’s reshaped his managerial identity around it. In doing so, he’s lost something important: the feel of baseball.
And Rob Manfred? He’s getting exactly what he wants—a more controlled, more predictable version of the sport.
But in the process, we’re losing the quirks, the mind games, the imperfections—the very things that made baseball feel real. Baseball was never meant to be perfect.
And the more we chase perfection, the more it slips away from being baseball at all.
