Colton Cowser did the honors in first game of the spring.
Spring training games have begun as Major League Baseball's regular season creeps ever closer. The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees had the honor of kicking off competitive baseball in Grapefruit League action on Friday, which meant everyone knew the stakes.
As soon as the first pitch was delivered, so too was the race to become the first player to take the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge system for a spin. Orioles' Colton Cowser jumped at the chance to make some very specific spring history in the bottom of the second inning when he took issue with a called strike delivered by Elmer Rodriguez.Here is the first ABS challenge of 2026.in spring training and the regular season in 2026, as the league will be using the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System in every ballpark for the first time in the big leagues.Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros blog, and at Woven Digital.
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