The Padres vs. ABS: How Has San Diego Done in the Early Stages of the New System?

On a veteran-laden team such as the San Diego Padres, it might be tough to figure out when it is appropriate to challenge a call under MLB's new automated ball-strike system.

But the Friars have a bit of a secret weapon. That would be catcher Luis Campusano, who played most all of last season at Triple-A, which had ABS. So, he was comfortable with the system and was the most experienced player on the Padres' Opening Day roster with it. He was a source of wisdom on best practices—situational awareness, counts, no-doubters—on when to tap the helmet and ask for a video replay of the pitch to see whether is was a ball or a strike.

Through their first six games, the Padres have neither been great nor horrible with the challenges they have requested. Friars hitters are 2-for-4, while the catchers are 4-for-7.

But maybe the Padres should be challenging a bit more. First-year manager Craig Stammen said during the season-opening homestand that he would prefer not to finish the game with any challenges remaining. Two games in particular stand out in that regard: Opening Day and the series finale vs. the San Francisco Giants. The Padres didn't have a single challenge in the opener, perhaps a nod to Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, the winner of the last two AL Cy Young Awards; likewise, they had just one in that Giants game.

 

 

 

 

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Digging into some of the metrics on Statcast, the Padres have an offensive challenge rate of 3.4%, which ranks 17th in MLB, and an expected challenge rate of 5.7%, which ranks fourth. Hence Stammen's prompt of trying to get his hitters to be more aggressive with the challenges. As of this writing, the Minnesota Twins led MLB with 12 offensive challenges, winning nine times, and a whopping 10.2% challenge rate.

Superstar third baseman Manny Machado and second baseman Jake Cronenworth each turned a called strike into a ball, while superstar right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and shortstop Xander Bogaerts each unsuccessfully challenged a called third strike.

Defensively (catchers and pitchers), the Friars rank eighth at 2.1% in challenge rate and 15th in expected challenges at 2.1%. So, the catchers are doing what they should be doing, but also nothing more. The Twins and Chicago White Sox have an MLB-best 10 defensive challenges, with the Minnesota successful seven times and the White Sox just four. Campusano has been responsible for flipping a walk by getting a strike on a challenge and also flipping a ball into a strikeout. No. 1 catcher Freddy Fermin has yet to do either. But Fermin has gone 2-for-3 in challenges to Campusano's 2-for-4. Campusano challenged three times in his first start, successful on his first two before missing.

Let's review how the Padres' 11 challenges in their first six games of the 2026 season unfolded:

Challenge 1: March 27

Scenario: Top of the third inning, game tied 0-0, runner on second, two outs, 1-1 count.

The call: Padres starter Michael King's 81.5 mph sweeper to the Tigers' Gleyber Torres was called a ball, low.

Result: Padres catcher Luis Campusano challenged and ABS showed half of the ball was in the zone, shifting the count from 2-1 to 1-2. Torres struck out swinging on the next pitch.

Challenge 2: March 27

Scenario: Top of the fourth, game tied 0-0, bases empty, two outs, 3-1 count.

The call: King's 93.6 mph four-seamer to the Tigers' Spencer Torkelson was called a ball, on the lower outside corner.

Result: Campusano challenged and the pitch was shown to have just clipped the bottom of the zone, erasing a walk and turning the count to 3-2. Torkelson struck out swinging on the next pitch.

Challenge 3: March 27

Scenario: Top of the ninth, Tigers lead 5-2, bases empty, one out, 3-2 count.

The call: Padres reliever David Morgan's 81.1 mph curveball to the Tigers' Kerry Carpenter was called a ball, low.

Result: Campusano challenged and the pitch was shown to be less than 0.1 of an inch below the zone, confirming ball four and the walk.

Challenge 4: March 28

Scenario: Bottom of the sixth, Padres lead 3-0, runners on first and second, two outs, 2-2 count.

The call: Tigers reliever Connor Seabold's 96.1 mph four-seamer to the Padres' Jake Cronenworth was called a strike, at the bottom of the zone.

Result: Cronenworth challenged and the pitch was 2.2 inches below the zone, reversing a strikeout and making the count 3-2. Two pitches later, Cronenworth grounded out to shortstop.

Challenge 5: March 28

Scenario: Bottom of the seventh, Padres lead 3-0, bases empty, no outs, 2-2 count.

The call: Seabold's 94.3 mph four-seamer to the Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. was called a strike, at the bottom of the zone, for a strikeout.

Result: Tatis challenged and the pitch barely clipped the bottom of the zone, confirming the strikeout.

Challenge 6: March 28

Scenario: Top of the ninth, Padres lead 3-0, runner on first, two outs, 0-1 count.

The call: Padres closer Mason Miller's 86.9 mph slider to the Tigers' Kevin McGonigle was called a ball, high.

Result: Padres catcher Freddy Fermin challenged the most of the pitch was shown to have hit the top of the zone near the outside corner, changing the count from 1-1 to 0-2. McGonigle struck out swinging to end the game on the next pitch.

Challenge 7: Monday

Scenario: Top of the third, Giants lead 1-0, runner on first, one out, 1-0 count.

The call: Padres starter Walker Buehler's 76 mph knuckle curve to the Giants' Willy Adames was called a ball, low.

Result: Campusano challenged and the pitch was confirmed a ball, 1.4 inches below the zone, keeping the count at 2-0. Four pitches later, Adames struck out looking, a call that was upheld after Adames challenged.

Challenge 8: Monday

Scenario: Bottom of the fourth, Giants lead 3-0, runner on first, no outs, 1-0 count.

The call: Giants starter Landen Roupp's 91.8 mph sinker to the Padres' Manny Machado was called a strike, on the inside corner.

Result: Machado challenged and the pitch was overturned to a ball, shifting the count from 1-1 to 2-0. Two pitches later, Machado grounded out to Roupp.

Challenge 9: Tuesday

Scenario: Top of the third, Giants lead 4-0, runner on first, two outs, 0-2 count.

The call: Giants starter German Marquez's 86.1 mph knuckle curve to the Giants' Casey Schmitt was called a ball, just high and outside.

Result: Campusano challenged and the pitch just clipped the outside corner, striking out Schmitt instead of a 1-2 count.

Challenge 10: Tuesday

Scenario: Bottom of the eighth, Giants lead 8-3, bases empty, two outs, 1-2 count.

The call: Padres reliever JT Brubaker's 81.8 mph curveball to the Padres' Xander Bogaerts was called a strike at the top of the zone for a strikeout.

Result: Bogaerts challenged and the strikeout was confirmed to end the inning.

Challenge 11: Wednesday

Scenario: Top of the third, Padres lead 1-0, bases empty, two outs, 0-1 count.

The call: Padres starter Nick Pivetta's 95 mph four-seamer to the Giants' Rafael Devers was called a ball, high.

Result: Fermin challenged and the pitch was confirmed a ball, 1 inch above the zone, keeping the count at 1-1. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Devers struck out swinging.

Summary

The Padres haven't exactly been shy about challenging calls, but they're also not approaching this system with reckless abandon, either. This is a veteran ballclub with a lot of players getting grandfathered into a new era of technology, so perhaps it's not too surprising to see some hesitancy from the stalwarts. Expect this team to get more aggressive as they become more comfortable with ABS.