The robots have officially entered primetime. Tuesday night in Atlanta, the 2025 MLB All-Star Game gave baseball fans their first taste of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system on the game’s brightest stage. And let’s just say it didn’t take long for the robo-umps to make themselves known.
ABS Delivers Early Drama in the Midsummer Classic
Bottom of the first. AL pitcher Tarik Skubal is dealing. Two strikes on Manny Machado. He fires one more. The human ump calls it a ball. But hold on — here comes the challenge. The ABS system is triggered, and after a few suspenseful moments, the pitch is confirmed to be a strike. Machado? Take a seat.
One inning in, and the system’s already rewriting at-bats. This wasn’t just a spring training curiosity anymore. This was the real deal — national broadcast, All-Star spotlight, big names, big moments. And whether fans loved it or loathed it, nobody could ignore it.
Players Sound Off: Buxton Isn’t Buying It
One guy not quite sold? Byron Buxton. The American League outfielder didn’t hold back in the clubhouse when chatting with Fox News Digital ahead of the game.
“I ain’t a fan of ABS,” he said bluntly, adding that it just complicates a game that already has enough chaos baked in. “That’s why you get crazy Instagram messages, Twitter messages now. ABS just seems to make things a little more complicated. … That’s pretty wild to me.”
And he’s not just talking about balls and strikes — Buxton sees this as part of a broader shift in how the game is played, watched, and wagered on. In a world where people can bet on every pitch, he’s clearly not loving the idea of strike zones being governed by a machine’s cold, clinical verdict. He’s not the only MLB player not liking it either.
All-Star Game Delivers the Drama — and a Swing-Off First
Despite his misgivings about the ABS tech, Buxton made his mark on the field too, lacing a key double in the ninth that helped push the American League toward what would become a nail-biting finish. But the National League took the crown, winning the first swing-off in MLB All-Star Game history. Yeah, swing-off. Welcome to 2025.
It was just the second NL win in the last three years, and it came in a game that mashed together old-school grit and high-tech officiating in real-time.
