Watch the Cubs already master the ABS Challenge System in Cactus League Opener

Change is coming to Major League Baseball. That often can be met with concern from a generation of baseball fans who don't quite understand what wRC+ is but we promise this is one change that fans will come to appreciate.

Major League Baseball announced earlier this offseason that Spring Training games this season will feature the ABS Challenge System. Under its official name, automated ball-strike challenge system, batters, pitchers, and catchers can now challenge pitches called a ball or strike by the home plate umpire.

"In the ABS challenge system, the human, home-plate umpire calls balls and strikes, per usual. But Hawk-Eye technology is running in the background, monitoring the exact location of the pitch relative to the batter’s strike zone. This allows players to ask for a challenge of a ball or strike call that they feel the umpire got wrong," the system is described on MLB dot com.

The challenge system was tested in Triple-A during parts of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. While there had been a fear that the system would cause further delays to the game's flow, the first challenge was pretty seamless.

The Chicago Cubs are already mastering the ABS Challenge process

During the Cubs' Cactus League Opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, Cubs' starting pitcher Cody Poteet successfully challenged a pitch that was originally called a ball.

Poteet will forever be remembered as the answer to the trivia question of who was the first Major League pitcher to win an ABS Challenge. It is important to note that since Poteet won the challenge, the Cubs did not lose a challenge. During Spring Training, each team will have two challenges at their disposal. If an umpire's call is confirmed, the team will lose a challenge.