The automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system is new to MLB regular-season play in 2026, and the Houston Astros are learning it the hard way.
Through their first four games against the Los Angeles Angels, the Astros went 0 for 5 on challenges, and in at least one instance, poor challenge management directly affected the outcome.
Here’s how the system works: each team begins every game with two challenges. A successful challenge is retained; an unsuccessful one is lost. The review is quick—typically within seven seconds—and highly accurate. The issue isn’t the technology. It’s the decision-making.
Saturday’s game provided the clearest example. Jose Altuve challenged a 1-1 strike call leading off the third inning with Houston trailing 1-0, a low-leverage moment early in the game. The challenge failed.
Later, in the fifth, Cam Smith challenged a borderline called strike with two runners on and two outs, a legitimate leverage spot. That challenge also failed, leaving the Astros without a challenge entering the sixth inning.
What followed showed exactly why that matters.
Altuve came to the plate as the potential tying run and worked a 3-1 count against Angels reliever Walbert Ureña. Ureña’s next pitch—a sinker well below the zone—was taken for what should have been ball four. Home plate umpire Ben May called it strike two. Pitch tracking confirmed the miss, but Houston had no challenges remaining. Altuve struck out on the next pitch.
An eight-run rally later erased the damage, but the lesson was clear.
Manager Joe Espada addressed the team’s approach, pushing back on the idea that challenges should be saved strictly for late innings.
“Leverage could be in the third inning, could be in the fifth inning,” Espada said. “Yesterday the sixth inning was game-changing for us—we scored eight runs. So we have to use them when it means the most for the team, not for personal use.”
Espada also reiterated a preference he established earlier: Pitchers should not initiate challenges. After reliever Roddery Muñoz unsuccessfully challenged a ball four call on Friday, Espada said he would address the decision directly.
A pitcher challenging a borderline call in the moment is exactly the type of emotional, low-leverage use the Astros are trying to avoid.
“Once the season gets going, we’ll sit down and have more volume of them and make sure we’re leaving our emotions out of it,” Espada said. “There’s a strategy behind it, so we’ve got to stick to that.”
The Astros were among the least active teams using ABS during spring training, with only four clubs issuing fewer challenges. Early returns suggest the learning curve is still very real.
The system itself is working as intended: fast, accurate, and capable of correcting calls that previously stood. The adjustment now is on Houston.
Four games in, the takeaway is simple: Challenge with purpose, not emotion.
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