Most of the strategic elements for the 2027 baseball season will be very familiar, but one will definitely be brand new. The Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System, aka the “robot umps,” will allow teams to challenge two pitches per game, and only pitchers, catchers and hitters will be allowed to initiate a challenge.
Teams do have some data on how to approach this from their Triple A farm clubs, and some basic strategic “rules” are surfacing. Most teams are forbidding pitchers from challenging because they’re being seen as being too emotional about individual calls, with catchers being given more freedom and managers also involved in making the call.
Advertisement
But one New York Mets player is expected to have free rein in this area. Mets outfielder Juan Soto is considered legendary for his intricate knowledge of the strike zone, and Mets GM David Stearns says Soto will likely have free rein.
“I think Juan’s probably gonna have the green light to challenge,” Stearns told reporters this week in a piece written by Thomas Hartigan of MLB com. “We’ll talk through that. But yes. I don’t know, but I would expect Juan to be pretty damn good at this. So that’s exciting.”
Stearns doesn’t think every team is going to roll out its strategy right away, but Soto may be the exception. According to Stearns, teams have to learn which counts are best when it comes to using the system, not to mention figuring out if certain players will have more leeway than others.
Advertisement
Soto’s stats certainly indicate he should have the right to do this. The outfielder did strike out 137 times in 2025, but Soto is typically among the MLB leaders in walks, and he walked 127 times last year.
But that stat also raises an interesting question about this. After losing first baseman Pete Alonso to free agency and trading away outfielder Brandon Nimmo, the perception is that Soto will be losing a lot of his lineup protection, and some experts think he could walk as many as 200 times next year.
What if Soto gets frustrated, then? This would be a natural human reaction, especially in at-bats during close games with a lot on the line. We saw Soto try to do too much at times down the stretch last year, and it’s easy to see that happening again. There are going to be a lot of situations where this sort of thing comes into play with nearly all players, and Soto will be one of them.
Advertisement
The other issue here is whether Soto will usurp the authority of his manager, Carlos Mendoza, by doing this on his own in clutch situations. This is another question teams will have to answer about new system, and there are bound to be plenty of mistakes and awkward moments as the kinks get worked out.
