ABS Challenges
The challenge system, quantified — who burns challenges, who banks them, and which catchers are still stealing strikes. Plus the live walk-spike tracker.
2026 ABS challenge data. Who's challenging, how often the call gets overturned, and how much each overturn was worth (the count matters — a 3-2 overturn is worth ~5× a 1-0). Catchers overturn ~61% of their challenges vs ~45% for batters — the best challengers are catchers. Challenge metrics →
The Walk Spike
Walks are up roughly +0.68 percentage points in 2026 vs. the same calendar window in 2025. The new ABS zone shape explains about +26% of the spike, pitchers absorbing the top-edge change explain the rest — and the spike is fading week-to-week.
Live weekly trajectory live · nightly
2026 weekly walk rate (red) extends each week as the season progresses. The 2025 dashed line is a fixed reference for the same calendar weeks. Updated nightly.
Read the full analysis: The Walk Spike Is Fading →R2: ABS Took the High Strike (Apr 23) · R1: Umpires or Pitchers? (Apr 9)