Royals have MLB leader in ball-strike challenges. They’re still figuring one part out
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Salvador Perez was a perfect 4-for-4 on ABS challenges early in the season.
- Royals emphasize saving challenges for later, especially two-strike situations.
- ABS uses 12 cameras with ~1/6-inch accuracy; catchers succeed more than batters.
After baseball’s opening weekend, Salvador Perez led baseball in one category:
Automated Ball-Strike overturn rate.
What’s that?
Heading into Monday’s games, including the Royals’ home opener against the Minnesota Twins, Perez was a perfect 4-for-4 in challenging the home plate umpire’s ball-strike call.
Three occurred in the first game last Friday, a loss at the Atlanta Braves, and in the fifth inning with consecutive batters. In all three cases, Perez challenged a “ball” call by home plate umpire Doug Eddings, who originally ruled the pitches from Cole Ragans below the strike zone.
In each case, Perez was proven correct, a couple by tenths of inches.
The perfect streak ended in the Royals’ 3-1 victory on Monday. Perez went 1-for-2; a ball called by home plate umpire Alex Tosi was upheld.
Still, it’s been a fabulous start from Perez, a nine-time All-Star who said before Monday’s game that he’s more comfortable challenging pitches at the top and bottom of the zone and not the corners. And although it’s worked for Perez and the Royals, his opinion on the system continues to form.
“I don’t know if I like it or not,” Perez said. “We don’t want umpires to look bad. We want to have good relationships with the umpires, you know, communication, talk.”
The Royals see the use of ABS as a work in progress. For hitters, there are advantages and disadvantages in the timing ... during a game and in the count.
“When to challenge has been more of a conversation topic than I thought it would be,” Royals executive vice-president and general manager J.J. Picollo said.
When batting, the Royals want those challenges available for later in games. Braves batters went 0-for-4 in using their challenges against the Royals, some in the early innings.
“The (Braves) were out of challenges in the first inning, in low-leverage situations,” Picollo said. “That’s what we’re trying to avoid.
“Players are competitive and our message has been, these are team challenges. They’re not individual challenges.”
Picollo said Royals hitters, who did not challenge any such calls against the Braves, are discouraged from challenging when ahead in the count.
“We’re trying to emphasize the two-strike challenge (for the batter),” Picollo said. “Why would you challenge at 1-and-0?”
Against the Twins, Maikel Garcia became the first Royals hitter to tap the top of his helmet to signal a challenge. It worked. A strike was ruled a ball, and on the next pitch Garcia doubled.
In the ABS system, teams can appeal strike zone decisions based on 12 cameras that measure whether a pitch crosses the strike zone with accuracy of about one-sixth of an inch.
Challenges had a 53.7% success rate through the first 47 games. There were 175 challenges, an average of 3.7 per game.
Catchers succeeded on 59 of 92 challenges for a 64% rate, but batters hit on 33 of 78 for a 42% rate. Pitchers also can challenge a ball-strike call, but only five did (two successful) during the first weekend.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 3:17 PM.