TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — 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.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate of the Automated Ball-Strike System, which potentially as early as 2026 could be used to aid MLB home plate umpires, but not replace them.

Starting in 2024, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this season.

How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work?

Stadiums are outfitted with cameras that track each pitch and judge whether it crossed home plate within the strike zone. In early testing, umpires wore ear buds and would hear “ball” or “strike,” then relay that to players and fans with traditional hand signals.

The challenge system adds a wrinkle. During spring training, human umps will call every pitch, but each team will have the ability to challenge two calls per game, with no additions for extra innings. A team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for big league teams with video reviews, which were first used for home run calls in August 2008 and widely expanded to many calls for the 2014 season.

Only a batter, pitcher or catcher may challenge a call, signaling with the tap of a helmet or cap; and assistance from the dugout is not allowed. A challenge must be made within 2 seconds, and the graphic of the pitch and strike zone will be shown on the scoreboard and broadcast feed. The umpire then announces the updated count.

MLB estimates the process averages 17 seconds.

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Where will ABS be tested?

MLB has installed the system in 13 spring training ballparks that are home to 19 teams. The Florida stadiums, all in the Florida State League, are the stadiums of Detroit, Minnesota, the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto, plus the ballpark shared by Miami and St. Louis.

Five test sites in Arizona all are shared: the Diamondbacks/Colorado, Chicago White Sox/Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland/Cincinnati, Kansas City/Texas and Seattle/San Diego.

About 60% of spring training games are slated for trial, although teams could play vastly different numbers of games with ABS testing. The Diamondbacks are slated for 29 ABS games, while the Cubs have just seven.

What is the technology?

A Hawk-Eye pose-tracking system of cameras was installed and used to track pitches and whether they are within a strike zone based on the height of each batter, who is measured without shoes before a team’s first test game. MLB estimated the calibration process at less than one minute for each player.

There are eight cameras at most of the spring training ballparks in the test and 12 at the Diamondbacks/Rockies stadium.

While the strike zone actually called by big league umpires tends to be oval in shape, the ABS strike zone is a rectangle, as in the rule book.

Developing a consensus on what a computer strike zone should be has been an issue.

When did MLB first start using ABS?

MLB started experimenting with ball/strike technology at the independent Atlantic League in 2019.

A challenge system was tried in 2021 at eight of nine ballparks that make up the Florida State League. ABS was promoted to five Triple-A parks in 2022 and expanded to all Triple-A stadiums in 2023, the robot alone for the first three games of each series and a human with a challenge system in the final three. That system was in place at the start of 2024, but MLB switched to an all-challenge system last June 25.

How successful were teams with challenges last year?

Overall return rate over the full Triple-A season was 51%, with challenges by the defense winning 54% and by the offense winning 48%. Challenges with the two-challenge limit in place averaged 3.9 per game, including 2.2 by the offense.

The success percentage has been slightly better for video reviews in the major leagues. Teams increased their success rate on video reviews to 53.7% last season, led by the Boston Red Sox at 67.9%.

Just 1.6% of first pitches were challenges, but the figure increased to 3.9% for two-strike pitches, 5.2% for three-ball pitches and 8.2% for full counts.

Challenge percentages were more likely later in the game. While 1.9% of pitches were challenged in the first three innings, 2.5% were challenged from the fourth through the sixth, 2.8% in the seventh and eighth and 3.6% in the ninth.

How has the computer strike zone changed over time?

MLB has changed the shape of the ABS strike zone several times.

It started with a 19-inch width in 2022, then dropped it to 17 inches — matching the width of home plate. Narrowing the strike zone led to an increase in walks and only small changes in strikeout rates.

The top of the striker zone was 51% of a batter’s height in 2022 and 2023, then raised to 53.5% in 2024 after pitchers’ complaints the top had been too low. The bottom of the strike zone has been 27% since 2022 after initially being set at 28%.

A batter’s stance is not taken into account.

ABS makes the ball/strike decision at the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and 8 1/2 inches from the back. The contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube, and a strike is a pitch that crosses any part.

Strikeout rates increased 0.5% and walk rates rose 1% in full ABS games and 0.8% in challenge games.

How will ABS impact broadcasts?

Concerned the strike zone box on broadcasts could tip whether to challenge and cause fans to yell at players to challenge, MLB plans to experiment with several broadcast alternatives, among them: show the box but not the ball; show the ball but not the box; and to show only corners of the box.

How can players give feedback?

Dugout iPads available to all teams will have an application called ProTABS that allows players to check pitches against their individual strike zone. Information will update after every plate appearance and players can give MLB comment on single pitches and the overall system.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

iTger Woods joined PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and player director Adam Scott in a second White House meeting on Thursday, another sign the sport is moving rapidly toward ending the division brought on by Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the financial muscle behind the rival league, was scheduled to join the meeting, according to a person briefed on the meeting.

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting is private, said President Donald Trump initiated the meeting and was likely to be part of it.

Al-Rumayyan was in Miami Beach, Florida, on Wednesday to attend an investment summit where Trump spoke.

This is the second time in just over two weeks the PGA Tour leadership — Woods and Scott are on the board — has met at the White House. Woods had to leave before the Feb. 4 meeting because his mother died in Florida.

He said Sunday during the CBS broadcast of the Genesis Invitational that “we have another meeting coming up.”

“I think that things are going to heal quickly,” Woods, the tournament host, said on the broadcast. “We’re going to get this game going in the right direction. It’s been heading in the wrong direction for a number of years and the fans want all of us to play together, all the top players playing together, and we’re going to make that happen.”

LIV Golf launched in June 2022 and lured away several top names — Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm — over the next few years with signing bonuses reported to top $100 million in some cases.

The PGA Tour, PIF and the European tour (commercially known as the DP World Tour) signed an agreement in June 2023, but it expired at the end of the year as the Justice Department raised antitrust concerns.

The PGA Tour brought on Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of North American pro sports owners led by Fenway Sports, as a minority partner in the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises at the start of 2024 with a $1.5 billion investment.

PIF is negotiating to be a minority investor, though Monahan made it clear last week the priority was bringing all the best players together more often.

“Everything is moving forward with pace,” Monahan said. “When you look at all the parties involved, there’s a general enthusiasm for getting this done.”

The site Radar Atlas on X, which tracks private jet travel, posted on Wednesday night the planes belonging to the PGA Tour and Scott had arrived in Washington.

How that looks remains unclear, though Monahan did say he had a clear vision of the end product. Currently, the top LIV players can only face Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the majority of golf’s best players at the four majors. Some LIV players also have access to a few European tour events.

Any agreement with PIF would require approval by the PGA Tour Enterprises board, the commercial outfit that grew out of the original June 2023 framework agreement.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

While the main attraction is still Lionel Messi, it’s perhaps fitting that for Major League Soccer’s 30th season the league is welcoming its 30th team.

Led by winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, San Diego FC is among the teams to watch this year, along with the expansion club’s first opponent, the defending MLS champion LA Galaxy. And, of course, Inter Miami.

Miami has sold out its season tickets as fans clamor to get an in-person look at Messi and fellow former Barcelona standouts Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets.

Miami will be looking to again finish atop the Eastern Conference and repeat as Supporters Shield winners. Messi, the league’s reigning MVP, should once more be a top candidate. But the Herons’ 2024 season was marred when they were surprisingly eliminated by Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs.

“We had broken the points record, but football is not about awards, it’s about what you do on the field,” Suarez said at the league’s media day. “We were the best team the entire regular season, we needed to show that in that playoff game against Atlanta, and we didn’t. We have to learn from that and be reminded that nobody gives you anything. It was very difficult to achieve what we did all season, but we are left with a bittersweet feeling.”

LAFC, the West’s top seed, fell in the conference semifinals to the Seattle Sounders.

The Galaxy won their sixth overall MLS Cup title last season with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls, a dramatic turnaround for a team that finished 26th in the league the year before. But the Galaxy embark on this season without dynamic midfielder Riqui Puig, who injured his ACL in the playoffs.

The addition of the San Diego balances MLS at 15 teams per conference. The league’s newest club is owned by billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Tribe, the first Native American tribe in the country to have an ownership stake in a professional soccer team. The team’s first season kicks off on Sunday.

Turnover At The Top

There are 12 coaches embarking on their first full seasons in 2025. Notable among them is Gregg Berhalter, the former U.S. men’s national team coach who is now leading the Chicago Fire.

In perhaps one of the most shocking coaching moves in the offseason, the Philadelphia Union dismissed Jim Curtin, a two-time MLS coach of the year who had spent 11 seasons with the team. He was replaced by Bradley Carnell, a former St. Louis coach.

Inter Miami’s coach, Geraldo “Tata” Martino, departed the club in November for personal reasons after one season. He was replaced in days by former Argentina great Javier Mascherano, another Messi teammate at Barcelona.

And finally, the San Jose Earthquakes brought in the league’s all-time winningest coach, Bruce Arena, after the club finished last in the standings with only six wins.

Coming and Going

MLS clubs were bullish in scooping up international talent in the offseason. Some of the notable additions were striker Emmanuel Latte Lath, who joined Atlanta from Middlesbrough, and Kévin Denkey, who arrived in Cincinnati from Cercle Brugge.

Perhaps the biggest departure was Cucho Hernandez, who left the Columbus Crew for Spanish club Real Betis. Austin FC sent midfielder Sebastián Driussi to Argentine team River Plate for a reported $10 million fee. Sporting KC transferred Alan Pulido to Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara.

Within the league, the Sounders scored Jesus Ferreira from FC Dallas, while Dallas got Luciano Acosta from FC Cincinnati. The Timbers sent Brazilian midfielder Evander to Cincinnati, while Houston picked up Jack McGlynn from Philadelphia.

Busy Season

It will be a busy season for MLS teams, with a number of tournaments in addition to the regular season.

Miami and the Sounders will get international attention as the league’s two participants in the FIFA Club World Cup. The event for an expanded field of 32 international clubs will be played across the United States from at June 14 to July 13.

The league will take a bit of a break during the tournament. At the same time, some players players will be with their national teams for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

There’s also the U.S. Open Cup, the Leagues Cup with teams from both MLS and Liga MX, and the CONCACAF Champions Cup. MLS teams can only participate in two tournaments to help alleviate the load on the players.

Building Toward the World Cup

The United States, Mexico and Canada will co-host the 2026 World Cup and MLS is hoping to capitalize as soccer’s biggest tournament looms.

The addition of Messi has already brought new attention to MLS. Attendance at games last season hit a league record 12.1 million, second only to the English Premier League. Five MLS teams are now valued at $1 billion each.

MLS is in the third year of a media deal with Apple TV, but there have been concerns about audience growth on the streaming service. Viewership numbers have not been made available.

This year Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass is available to Comcast and DirecTV subscribers — still at a fee but accessed via those platforms. Season Pass is also free for a season to T-Mobile phone service customers.

“Over the next two years, North America will be the epicenter of global soccer, our league, our clubs, our players and our fans are all committed to working together on this path to the world’s biggest sporting event,” Commissioner Don Garber said during his state-of-the-league address in December. “We have an unbelievable opportunity to create this great trajectory and create even more momentum as we continue to grow our sport and our league for the years to come.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer