Merrifield bounced around the NL East last season with the Phillies and Braves while his batting average took a nosedive. After hitting .272 in his last full year with the Blue Jays in 2023, the 36-year-old batted .199 in 95 games with Philadelphia, then improved to .248 over 42 games in Atlanta.

This year's MLB spring training could prove more consequential than any in years past as MLB will experiment with ABS, the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, to ensure the home plate umpire gets as many ball and strike calls correct as possible. On Thursday, the league announced how exactly this new challenge system will unfold.

A computerized system that calls balls and strikes is being tested during Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games starting Thursday after four years of experiments in the minor leagues.

ABS is MLB’s name for an automated strike zone — also known as robot umps. In a full ABS game, there will be a human umpire behind the plate, signaling the calls communicated through ABS. We won’t be seeing that full system in action this spring. Instead, teams will have a limited amount of challenges.

Major League Baseball this week will begin testing an automated system that will keep count of balls and strikes. The tests will take place during spring training and could be rolled into regular season play in 2026.