Pat Murphy gives fitting answers to how his team will approach MLB's new ABS system

Coming to Major League Baseball in 2026 will be the ability for batters, pitchers, and catchers to challenge balls and strikes. Each team will receive two challenges per game, with the ability to keep contesting more calls so long as those challenges are successful.

While umpires will make the initial ball and strike call on the field, challenges will be turned over to an Automatic Ball-Strike (ABS) system where the strike zone is tailored to each individual batter. It takes mere seconds for a ruling to happen, with replays being displayed on the big screens at ballparks.

For minor league baseball viewers, this technology has been in play, tested, and tweaked throughout the last few years. The ABS and challenge capabilities were temporarily used during spring training a season ago, but now is set to be an option throughout the entirety of the 2026 regular season and playoffs.

With anticipation building around this change, managers are beginning to think through the strategy behind it. Recently, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers shared insights from several skippers around the league, and Pat Murphy’s response was particularly fitting. Be sure to check out Rogers' article, which is free to read over at ESPN.com and linked below for your convenience.

How MLB teams are approaching new ball-strike challenge rules

ESPN's Jesse Rogers reveals Pat Murphy's feelings on the new ABS challenge system

Despite being the back-to-back Manager of the Year in the National League, Murphy is constantly handing out credit to everyone but himself. He frequently talks about how baseball is a game about people and personalities rather than numbers on a page. That mentality leads Murphy to be one of the best motivators in the game, constantly instilling confidence in his young players and effectively utilizing the experience of his seasoned veterans.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise to Brewers fans that when Murphy was asked about the ABS system, he referenced his players, rather than himself, saying, "What I love is it's player-driven, you know what I mean? And it requires the players to embrace it, understand it, understand the strategy of it." Murphy takes pride in the "baseball-y" nature of his team, to steal a term from MLB Now's Brian Kenny. What it means is that his team does the little things right; they take the extra bag, see things other players don’t, and therefore capitalize on opportunities other teams leave on the table.

That same mentality is likely to apply to how his team approaches the new ABS system; any opportunity to gain an edge on their competition, the Brewers are going to do whatever they can to obtain it. As reported by Rogers, Murphy went on to say, "I think you have to trust your players. You've got 26 active. You've got to trust them. You try to educate them, try to give them as much information as possible. We'll see how it rolls."

It's certainly going to take some time to adjust to the new technology, which Murphy acknowledges, but he also continues to display an unwavering confidence in his players that is rare in today's game. For Brewers fans nervous about how the ABS system might impact their favorite team, take comfort in the fact that Murphy and his excellent coaching staff are at the helm during the transition.