The New York Mets open up Spring Training play against the Houston Astros on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 (2/22/25) at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

As the MLB season quickly approaches, the teams and their players are in Arizona and Florida, perfecting their game as they prepare for the first pitch of the regular season in the Cactus League and the Grapefruit League.

What to know about robot umpires, automated ball-strike testing, challenges at 2025 MLB spring training Cactus League, Grapefruit League games.

This spring training will introduce a new element to the action: for the first time, MLB will employ the automated ball-strike system (ABS for short) during big-league contests.  ABS is, for those unfamiliar with the concept,

Major League Baseball this week will begin testing an automated system that will keep count of balls and strikes. The tests will take place during spring training and could be rolled into regular season play in 2026.