After having spent years experimenting in limited capacities and controlled environments, MLB officially rolled out the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System for the 2026 season.
Colorado
Thursday Rockpile: The Rockies’ mixed ABS Challenge results
The allure of analyzing the entirely new type of data that ABS challenges present has been hard to resist. To be able to draw any useful conclusions, though, we all collectively needed to wait for the sample size to get to a somewhat meaningful size. On Tuesday, official ABS challenges in regular season MLB games crossed the one thousand mark. That big round number would seem to be a reasonable minimum mark to start looking at the data.
At start of play Wednesday, here’s where the league wide basics stood:
- Overall success rate on challenges has been 54% so far, with a notable difference between those initiated by hitters (47%) vs. those from fielders (60%).
- Almost all fielder reviews have been initiated by catchers, with only 21 of the 554 having come from pitchers.
- Teams so far have very different tendencies for when to challenge: The range of challenge attempts extends from the Minnesota Twins at 58 all the way down to the Boston Red Sox at only 20.
- Teams are spreading their challenges around: No individual batter has initiated more challenges than José Caballero of the Yankees with a mere seven.
How have the Rockies specifically fared with this new system given their pre-season preparations?
The answer to that is vastly different between their batters and their fielders.
Before Wednesday’s game, the Rockies batters had challenged 21 pitches and only succeeded on eight of those for an obviously poor 38% success rate.
Baseball Savant has put together a new metric called Runs vs. Expected which attempts to create a digestible overall run value for a team based on the challenges they attempted, their success rate, and the challenges they did not attempt but could have been expected to based on average trends. Essentially, the idea is to spit out an estimate of how many runs have been gained via ABS challenges compared to what an average team would be expected to have in the same circumstances.
The Rockies overall challenge win rate is not the lowest; however, their poor win rate combined with having initiated the fourth highest number of challenges means that Baseball Savant ranks the Rockies batters dead last in terms of Runs vs. Expected.
Baseball Savant
Like most teams, the Rockies are spreading their challenges around — the only hitter on the team who has challenged more than three times is Hunter Goodman. As a batter, Goodman has a won one challenge and lost four for a success rate of 20% in a very small sample size.
The fielding side is a very different picture. The Rockies have initiated 27 challenges and won 19 of them for a sparkling 70% success rate.
Using the same Runs vs. Expected abstracted stat from Baseball Savant as examined above for their batters, the Rockies rank fourth in the league for fielder initiated challenges. They are tied with the Kansas City Royals and rank behind only the Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, and Minnesota Twins.
Baseball Savant
Both of the Rockies catchers have a success rate of over 70% and rank within the top ten in the league in total challenges won. The teams overall average is brought down slightly by José Quintana’s single failed attempt, but the tandem of Hunter Goodman and Brett Sullivan both been very good at utilizing this system.
Most players and teams strategies for how best to use this system in practice vs. in theory are still evolving. It will probably be a few seasons before these numbers start to really stabilize and we learn what the norms are. But, at first glance, the Rockies are in an interesting spot.
Their batters are doing far worse than average but their catchers (when not batting) are doing far better than average. They can go one of three ways given this:
- Put coaching resources into trying to improve their hitters success rate.
- Limit the circumstances in which they want to let their hitters challenge, thus saving more challenges for their fielders.
- Wait for more data before jumping to conclusions.
Any path forward is fine, so long as it’s not one that limits Brett Sullivan and Hunter Goodman while behind the plate as they both seem to be pretty darn good at this so far.
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 4, Oklahoma City Comets 3
A home run from Nicky Lopez and a big four hit day for Vimael Machín was pretty much all the offense the Isotopes needed to best the Comets. Keegan Thompson threw a solid 4.2 innings of two run ball before handing it off to the bullpen which shut down the Comets until a shaky 1.1 innings from Seth Halvorsen who allowed their final run in the ninth.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 11, Richmond Flying Squirrels 13
On a warm night in Hartford the bats were scorching. Bryant Betancourt was four for six including a homer, Skyler Messinger was two for three with a double and two walks, and Zach Kokoska (who came in for Benny Montgomery after he hurt his leg on a play against the right field wall) was two for four with a walk and a home run. On the mound it was a tough night for both the starter Jake Brooks and closer Cade Denton as each of them allowed five runs.
High-A: Spokane Indians 6, Vancouver Canadians 14
The Spokane lineup managed to score six runs despite no individual batter having more than two hits and Max Belyeu’s triple being their only extra base hit. A true team effort! On the mound it was, sadly, a similarly collective effort in terms of every pitcher contributing to the mountain of runs allowed. Yujanyer Herrera (five runs in 2.1 innings) and Justin Loer (four runs in 0.2 relief innings) bore the brunt of the damage from the Canadians’ bats.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 9, Ontario Tower Buzzers 16
Wednesday was a night that Jhon Medina likely wishes to forget after having allowed eight earned runs in 0.2 relief innings after Marcos Herrera was pulled for the fourth after 77 pitches. On the hitting side, things went better, as Fresno hitters earned nine walks en route to those nine runs. In terms of standout performers, Jack O’Dowd hit the lone home run for the Grizzlies but Tanner Thach reached base three times including once on a double.
How to Judge the 2026 Colorado Rockies fairly | Mile High Sports
Drew Creasman digs into how best to evaluate a Rockies team that is expected to lose a lot. It’s a similar premise to an article I wrote before the season looking for a metric to judge the team by, but Creasman lays out the case for a measure that allows checking in more regularly and directly corresponds to how fun the team is to watch.
Broncos owners made Russell Wilson go away. It’s time they make Kris Bryant go away, too. | The Denver Post ($)
Sean Keeler makes a case for something that is probably familiar with Rockies fans: Now is the time to work out a restructured contract with Kris Bryant that officially sees him removed from the team. Keeler draws parallels between what could become of the current situation with Bryant and how the Bronco’s saw almost immediate success after parting ways with Russel Wilson.
Colorado School Breaks College Softball Winning Streak Record | Westworld
Benito L. Kelty puts the spotlight on the Colorado Christian University softball team who are currently amidst a 38-game winning streak. This is the record within the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference that they play in and it is possible that they could soon be challenging for the overall NCAA record of 55 consecutive wins. This is a local sports story absolutely worth keeping an eye on even if not directly tied to baseball.
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An investigation is underway after authorities found a body near a picnic area in western Colorado last weekend that appears to have been eaten by a bear.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office says the human remains were located on Sunday near the Wild Rose Picnic Area off Lands End Road on the Grand Mesa. Investigators say the remains were scavenged and scattered, and they believe the person was consumed by a bear and other wildlife.
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office is working to identify the person and officially determine their cause of death.
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who was in the area of the Wild Rose Campground between June 22 and July 5, 2026, and noticed anything suspicious to contact Investigator Jenna Reed at (970) 244-3274.
They added that Colorado Parks and Wildlife believes there is no threat to the community at this time.
The area is home to black bears, and the MCSO shared several guidelines for the community to prevent human-bear conflicts:
- Stay alert and together: Go with others when possible, keep children in sight and close by, and avoid using headphones so you can hear your surroundings.
- Food safety: Double-bag food, pack out all food and trash, and don’t burn scraps and trash in fire rings/grills or leave them behind.
- Pet safety: Keep dogs on a leash at all times or leave them at home; don’t force a bear to defend itself.
- Camping safety: Set up camps away from dense cover or natural food sources and do not cook or store food near/in a tent. Secure food in bear-resistant containers or suspend at least 10 feet above the ground and 10 feet away from any part of the tree.
- Know how to respond: Don’t approach bears; quietly move away. Never run, as it may trigger a chase response. If a bear approaches, stand your ground, wave your arms, and yell until it leaves. Stay with your group, use bear spray, and fight back aggressively if necessary.
- Bear spray: Carry bear spray and know how to use it correctly. It’s not repellent; don’t spray your tent, campsite, or belongings.
Damage assessments are still ongoing for homes and businesses affected by the Aspen Acres Fire in southern Colorado, but over 200 homes have been confirmed destroyed so far. The United Way of Southern Colorado is working to raise relief funds for those affected and says it’s making progress towards its fundraising goal.
In an update on Wednesday afternoon, Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said they’ve assessed approximately 67% of the properties affected in the county. Authorities have confirmed the loss of 192 homes and four commercial structures so far and are working to contact property owners as quickly as possible.
Lucero urged everyone affected by the fire to use the survivor portal for more information on assistance.
Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith says they’ve lost approximately 83 homes so far, almost 2% of the county’s homes. The worst hit area is along the Highway 165 corridor, Smith added. He said that authorities don’t expect any new evacuation areas, but are not yet ready to release the existing evacuation orders.
Smith said a hotline is available during business hours for affected Custer County Residents to ask questions. He urged residents to contact them at (719) 467-0271 and advised they may need to leave a voicemail if the line is busy due to the high number of calls.
A flash flood watch is in effect for areas near the burn scar, which could affect nearby homes.
The President of the United Way of Southern Colorado, Shanna Farmer, said the organization is working to raise wildfire relief funds for those affected. Over the last few days, they have reached just over $417,000 of their $10 million goal.
“It has been incredible, the number of individuals and companies who have come out to support, to provide matches, and to provide innovative ways to raise those funds,” said Farmer. “And so, I encourage anyone who is willing to work with us on a corporate, business, or individual level to please reach out because it is going to take all of us to help rebuild.”
Farmer said that the community not only needs help with their immediate needs but also long-term support. She urged anyone interested in donating to visit their website.
The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office says anyone who has evacuated needs to contact the Disaster Assistance Center located at 29 Lehigh Ave. in Pueblo. The center is open between 9 a.m and 6 p.m. and provides multiple resources for those forced to evacuate.
Residents must also visit the center to obtain a re-entry pass, which will allow them to return home once evacuation orders have been lifted. A photo ID and proof of residency are required. Visitors can sign up online to reserve a place in line for faster service.
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