SARASOTA, Fla. — The Orioles had a chance to turn a small rally into a crooked number on the scoreboard, but they got a bad call.

Facing the Detroit Tigers on Friday with one run already in, outfielder Dylan Carlson was at the plate in the bottom of the first inning with a 2-2 count, runners on the corners and two outs. He looked at a slider from starter Keider Montero below the zone and home plate umpire Jen Pawol rang him up.

Carlson, however, wanted a second look. He tapped the top of his helmet to signal a review from the automated ball-strike system and, a few seconds later, the center field scoreboard showed that the ball missed the zone. Carlson got the call, drew a walk on the next pitch and scored when catcher Samuel Basallo cleared the bases with a three-run triple. A one-run inning became a four-run explosion.

It’s a brand-new world for MLB, which is testing out the ABS system in spring training this year with an eye on potentially implementing it in future seasons. Under the proposed rules, each team gets two challenges per game they can use at any time, and they can keep them for later use if they get them right. Only the pitcher, catcher or batter can call for a challenge and they must do so immediately after the pitch.

The Orioles don’t have the Hawk-Eye tracking system implemented at their Grapefruit League home ballpark, Ed Smith Stadium, but the stadiums for 13 of their 15 road games this spring have ABS capabilities. Manager Brandon Hyde has already started to think about his strategy for using challenges.

“Right now, I want some guys to try it if they feel like the umpire missed it,” Hyde said. “I think, if it does get implemented, we would have to have a talk about situations, certain people. Some guys think balls are balls and strikes are strikes differently than others, so it’s going to be a little bit of a trust factor. But also you have to be a good teammate about it and understand the time of the game and when it’s important and count and all those types of things. So, those would be discussions if it does get put in play.”

MLB has been testing these robot umpire systems in the minor leagues since 2021, trying out the challenge system as well as playing entire games with ABS calling balls and strikes. Orioles players as recently as last season weren’t in a rush to have the system implemented at the MLB level, citing shortcomings in the technology.

But as the Orioles have gotten comfortable with the computer-analyzed strike zone, which is shaped more like an oval than the rectangle boxes shown on TV and unique in size to each individual hitter, they’ve been able to see how it could remove some of the more frustrating moments from the game.

“I was talking to Laz [Díaz], one of the older umpires, yesterday and he doesn’t really love it but I always enjoyed it in Triple-A,” infielder Jackson Holliday said Saturday.

“I feel like I was able to control the zone and maybe some calls that they miss I was able to maybe challenge it just like it is. So, I think it’s a cool part. I think that the challenge is good. It’s still the human element of an umpire and I don’t think you can take that away but I really like it, especially in close games. Guys in the big leagues have unbelievable stuff. I know it’s definitely a difficult job. We see thousands of pitches a year. It’s a cool add, I think.”

Hurdles remain before Orioles fans could start to see it on the scoreboard at Camden Yards. A positive impression from both players and the commissioner’s office could go a long way in ABS being implemented by 2026.

But the league is also coming up on the end of its collective bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association, which could fold the issue into larger discussions at the negotiating table.

“It’s still an ongoing conversation,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said earlier this spring. “Guys have experienced it, some have enjoyed it, some not so much. Some think it’s interesting and are still trying to get a feel for if they do like it, or don’t, for that matter. At the end of the day, we’ll circle back, or at the end of spring training or toward the end, we’ll circle back and see what the experience was both with the Arizona guys and out here. And do so in a way that the players will take that information and circle back with the league.”

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