What Giants learned from spring training using MLB’s ‘interesting’ ABS system

SCOTTSDALE — In the box score, the third Cactus League game for the Giants ended with a pretty normal play.“Ryan Lasko grounds out, third baseman Buddy Kennedy to first baseman Bryce Eldridge. Three outs.”The final at-bat of that 6-2 win over the Athletics was a lot more interesting than it seemed on paper, though.With two on and two down, Giants minor leaguer Ben Peterson threw a 1-2 fastball that appeared to nick the very bottom of the zone. Umpire Brock Ballou called strike three on Lasko and the Giants started moving toward the mound for a handshake line. They all stopped when Lasko tapped his helmet. Welcome to baseball in 2026. Lasko’s challenge didn’t end up changing anything — the pitch was ruled a ball and he grounded the next one to Kennedy to end the game — but it was an early look at what could, and almost certainly will, happen during a Giants game this season. At some point, one of their games will swing because a hitter, either one of theirs or one on the other side, was given fresh life late in a game. That became very clear over the past month.Thirty teams across Arizona and Florida have spent this spring trying to figure out the best ways to handle the ABS (automatic balls and strikes) system that will be in play at the big league level for the first time, and that sequence was an example of one of the biggest spring lessons: There’s no value in going home with a challenge in your back pocket.Lasko challenged because he was right (by the slimmest of margins), but also because there was no reason to hold back. He took a shot at keeping the game going, and perhaps one day that next swing will result in a double that continues a late rally. Giants shortstop Willy Adames was in a similar high-leverage position a day earlier and also used a challenge.With the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth inning, Adames was called out on a 1-2 pitch at the bottom of the zone. He challenged, and the replay confirmed he had been right — by less than one-tenth of an inch. Adames grounded out, but he at least got the tying run home instead of striking out. “That was insane. I thought it was a little further than that but I’ll take it,” he said, laughing. “Last year, I would have gone (to) 0-for-3 with a strikeout and the game would have (still) been 1-0. It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be a really cool year.“Obviously, the game is changing every year and it’s going to be really interesting to see the interactions between players and umpires. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”That Adames moment was a good example of how the Giants might approach challenges when they’re at the plate. When one of your best hitters is up in a spot like that one, there’s value in being a bit more aggressive. With the bases loaded across MLB last season, the run expectancy was nearly a full run higher with no outs than with one. Over the course of the past month, the Giants saw other examples of how the new rule will impact their season. Two pitches were challenged during a four-pitch span early in one game, one by the hitter and one by the catcher. Both were overturned, an awkward sequence for the home plate umpire that day.In Thursday’s spring breakout game, prospect Walker Martin emphatically challenged when he was rung up on a low 3-2 fastball to end the game. He was right, and he started taking his equipment off and walking down to first before the replay was even shown.When the Giants flirted with a perfect game over the weekend, two close pitches were correctly ruled balls during the walk with 26 outs. Fans yelled at the Giants to challenge just in case, but they had already used their allotment.A few weeks ago, the action was much earlier. Tyler Mahle watched two of his pitches get challenged by opposing hitters in the first inning.“It’s a little weird,” he said afterward. “It throws off the rhythm of the game for sure, so it’s going to be annoying, but it is what it is.”The Giants, who come home Saturday, have challenged 60 times this spring, with an equal split as hitters or defenders, according to statistics compiled by Baseball Savant. They’re 14-for-30 as batters and 19-for-30 when they’re pitching, ranking 11th and 10th, respectively, in success rate.The statistics will add a fun wrinkle over the course of 162 games, and early on, they have shown that the concerns about Patrick Bailey were wildly overblown. When ABS was approved, there was some thought that the best framers — and Bailey is at the very top of the list — would lose a big chunk of their value, but Bailey has found a new area to dominate.He’s 10-for-12 on challenges this spring and has the second-highest success rate among players with double-digit challenges won. Four of Bailey’s challenges picked up a strikeout for the Giants, which is tied for a league high.During one lengthy scrimmage early in camp, Bailey called balls and strikes while the Giants used TrackMan to get data. The back-to-back Gold Glove Award winner missed just one call. It seems a lock that over the course of a full season, he’ll be right near the top of every challenge leaderboard, providing further evidence that he’s as good as it gets back there.While ABS was used in the minors last season and in some spring ballparks, this is just about completely new to most of the veterans like Bailey, along with manager Tony Vitello. The Giants have had plenty of internal meetings about how best to use it and got a presentation from the league — former Giant Gregor Blanco, now with the MLB office, was among those who visited — but mostly Vitello wanted his players to use this spring as grounds for experimentation. “It should be for us to just get a feel for what it’s like,” he said. “So many of the conversations we’ve had have been about what is it like, or what will it be like. You can theorize all you want, but to put it into practice, I think it will be good for our guys.”It didn’t take long at all for the Giants to start learning lessons about ABS, as there was a funny moment in their first game that showed how crucial experience can be. Right-hander Jose Butto threw a breaking ball that was ruled off the plate inside and immediately tilted his head in disbelief. Catcher Daniel Susac, who used ABS all of last year in Triple-A, nodded his head toward the inside of the plate, trying to indicate that the pitch was not a strike. Butto tapped his hat anyway and the Giants lost one of their two challenges. Before that game, Vitello took part in his first lineup card exchange as a Giant. As part of it, the umpires reiterated that calls cannot come from the dugout, but as Susac showed, there are subtle ways to help your pitcher. During the regular season, though, that might not be as necessary. The general consensus in Giants camp has been that Bailey — and his backups — will do most of the challenging since they have the best idea of the strike zone, and that played out in spring games. Only three Giants pitchers challenged a call this spring, and all were relievers.That probably won’t change when the games start to count next Wednesday.“I learned really quickly that it was like, ‘Oh, that looked like it was there and it was off by like six inches,” said right-hander Adrian Houser. “I’m just going to let (Bailey) take it. He’ll handle it. He’ll know if it’s a ball or a strike, so we’ll let him handle all that.”Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

What Giants learned from spring training using MLB’s ‘interesting’ ABS system

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