The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs played the first spring training game of 2025 on Thursday and debuted some new technology in the process.
Thursday’s Cactus League opener, a 12-4 Cubs win, saw the first use of an automated ball-strike challenge system, commonly known as a “robot ump,” between MLB teams. The Cubs used the challenge system twice over the course of nine innings, winning once and losing the other.
The first challenge came two batters into the bottom of the first inning, when starting pitcher Cody Poteet had a pitch call turned from a ball to a strike to go up 0-2 on Max Muncy. The whole process took about 30 seconds.
The first ever strike zone challenge in an MLB game is a successful one
Cody Poteet’s pitch is overturned from a ball to a strike, changing the count from 1-1 to 0-2 against Max Muncy pic.twitter.com/sJz2EnNbYT
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 20, 2025
The other challenge came in the bottom of eighth inning, when Frank Scalzo Jr.’s challenge failed to get a ball turned into a strike.
MLB has no plans to implement the robot umps in the major leagues this year but is testing the system during spring training, with a possible adoption for the 2026 season. The minor leagues have been using both the robot ump challenge system and a game-wide usage that bypasses the home plate umps for years.
As Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Shusterman laid out, MLB teams each start the game with two challenges and lose them only if the umpire’s call is confirmed. The batter, pitcher and catcher can all initiate a challenge but must do so immediately after the pitch, rather than waiting for word from the dugout (MLB dugouts waiting for a replay to challenge is a common complaint of the current challenge system). Challenges use the Hawkeye technology that powers Statcast.
MLB has 13 stadiums incorporating the challenge system this spring, which will cover more than 60% of spring training games.
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