PHILADELPHIA — If you've been at Citizens Bank Park during the first homestand of the 2026 season, it's become clear what great theater ABS reviews are. Most importantly, there's clarification on potentially game-changing ball/strike calls.
In conversations with OnPattison, Phillies catchers J.T. Realmuto and Rafael Marchán had mostly positive feedback on ABS, but did acknowledge it's added yet another thing to their already full plates.
"It's tough," Realmuto responded when asked about his early impressions of ABS.
"It feels like it's more work for the catcher because you feel like you gotta do two jobs, but I do like it for the big misses. It's gonna help hitters in the long run, but I think it's good for the game to get the big misses out, to be able to overturn those. It creates a little more stress on my night where I'm constantly second-guessing, having to think about every single pitch that we go through. But overall, I like it for the game."
Realmuto has enjoyed that fans are getting a kick out of the short suspense of an ABS review.
"They seem to love it," Realmuto said with a smile. "It seems like the most excited they get during the game is during an overturned call. It kinda brings a little comedic relief to the game."
J.T. Realmuto gives his thoughts on ABS so far 🤖
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/fg9nIRKXoH
Rafael Marchán has only caught one game so far, but had a pretty similar takeaway as Realmuto.
"It's been good," Marchán said. "I think it's something that the hitters and pitchers are gonna take advantage of. I think that the more we use it during the game, the easier it's gonna be for us to make a decision to call the challenge or not.
"But so far, I just feel like it's something good for the game."
Where you might think Marchán could differ from Realmuto is in thinking that it's more work, just because he was at Triple-A Lehigh Valley during the 2024 season, with the current challenge system becoming universal at that level in June of 2024. But Marchán still says it's been an adjustment for him.
"Yes, because last year I didn't use it at all," Marchán said. "So to start using it this year in Spring Training was a little weird for me at the beginning just to reset like, OK, where the borderline is, where the corners are. But the more that I get into it, the more comfortable that I feel to make my decisions."
Unsurprisingly, Marchán says that it's harder to evaluate whether or not to challenge a pitch as a batter than it is as a catcher. When hitting, north-south is harder to tell whether or not to challenge, as opposed to east-west, in Marchán's estimation.
Entering play Wednesday, the Phillies actually have the lowest number of challenges requested at four, as opposed to a league-high eight from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The good news for the Phillies is that they're 3-for-4 on the challenges they've requested when pitching, and the only one they lost was one that Zach Pop requested. Realmuto is 3-for-3 as a catcher, while Marchán didn't request any challenges in his lone start of the year.
Offensively, the Phillies have been a bit more hit or miss on challenges at 3-for-6. If anything, that's a sign that while ABS has added even more to the workload of catchers, the Phillies have the right guys behind the dish to make the assessment on when it's appropriate to tap their helmets and use one of their two challenges.
