“I love it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I loved it in spring training. I think, not all the players, but I think most of the players if you ask them, they really liked it, too. I think it keeps everybody accountable. It keeps everybody on their toes.”

The MLB joint competition committee announced it was instituting an Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, or ABS, starting next season.

Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game.