A scoreboard shows a call being confirmed by ABS during a spring training game on February 25, 2026, in Scottsdale, Arizona. | Chris Coduto/Getty Images

For a sport that’s more than 150 years old, the opening of the 2026 Major League Baseball season is set to feature an unusual number of firsts. The official Opening Day on March 26 is the earliest in baseball history. The first official game of the season tonight between the Giants and the Yankees — which is Opening Night , not Opening Day , totally different — will be the first-ever game streamed on Netflix.

And chances are that some time during that game, a player will tap his helmet or hat after a pitch is thrown, challenging the umpire’s call and triggering baseball’s first-ever Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system review. The robot umpires are here.

The system is remarkably straightforward. Each team gets two challenges per game, retaining them if successful, losing them if wrong.…