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Major League Baseball will experiment with the strike zone challenge system at the game's highest level next year during spring training. Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the news on Monday during a media appearance. Reports from over the summer indicated MLB was considering a trial run of the same challenge system that has been implemented at minor-league levels, including Triple-A.

"There's going to be a test at the Major League level during spring training next year," Manfred told YES Network's Jack Curry during an appearance on the "Yankees News & Views" show. "We're going to test the challenge system with big-league players." 

There was no indication of future plans beyond spring training -- such as, say, when this might be employed during the regular season. It stands to reason that MLB will want to see how the trial period goes before fully implementing the challenge system.

To be clear: the challenge system differs from the automated ball-strike system (ABS for short) and serves as something of a compromise between full automation and the current approach. Under the challenge system, each team is afforded three contested calls per game that are quickly checked against technology. There are no lengthy pauses, and at least at the minor-league level, players trigger the challenges in part by patting the side of their helmets, allowing for a streamlined process.

Here's an example of how the whole scene tends to play out, for those who want to see it in action:

It's worth noting that Manfred admitted the league had moved to the challenge system approach after he spent the last few years traveling from clubhouse to clubhouse and asking the players about their preferences. Per Manfred, the players he spoke with "overwhelmingly" favored the challenge system to the fully automated approach.