CHICAGO — Major League Baseball made a landmark decision Tuesday, voting to implement the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System in the 2026 regular season.

The vote, made by the league’s Joint Competition Committee, comes after years of testing in both the independent and minor leagues. The Challenge System that MLB approved differs from full ABS, the latter of which uses technology to call every pitch — akin to a “robo ump.”

The rule change will give each team two ball-strike challenges per game that a batter, catcher or pitcher can use at their discretion. If the challenge is successful, the team will retain it.

The ABS Challenge System was used both in spring training and the MLB All-Star Game this season. It was a little less familiar to the Cubs, whose spring training home — Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. — was one of the Cactus League sites that did not have the technology available.

The Cubs still experienced the rule change when they played at parks that could use ABS, including their Feb. 20 Cactus League opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch.

Regardless, the rule change now will bring a new dynamic to baseball, and the Cubs welcome it.

“Yeah, you know, technology is upon us,” manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday at Wrigley Field. “My gut feeling on it is that the players like this. A lot of the young players have experience with it. As long as we’ve got the strike zone right, I think this will be a fun rule.”

Players who have spent time in Triple-A the past two seasons, such as Cubs rookie outfielder Kevin Alcántara, have firsthand, meaningful game experience with the system.

“(It’s) the best. I’m on board with it,” Alcántara said of ABS. “It’s the best thing they can do. That way, there’s no erring on the side of the hitter or the pitcher. Sometimes one call can damage a game — to any player.”

The challenge system will bring a new element of strategy to the game, which Alcántara said has been emphasized by his Triple-A coaches.

“The challenges are recommended to be taken with the bases loaded or after the fifth inning to not waste them,” Alcántara said. “Sometimes you can’t think about using the challenges for yourself but rather for the team. That’s what they were teaching us down there.”

Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner echoed Alcántara’s thoughts on the impact of extreme calls on an at-bat. Hoerner was ejected in the fifth inning of the Cubs’ 4-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on June 8 for vocalizing his disagreement with a strikeout call to home plate umpire Derek Thomas.

“I think if the main thing it does is take out the really extreme call that impacts a game in a big situation,” Hoerner said. “That’s probably the most helpful to the day-to-day results of the game.”

Counsell has had his fair share of arguments with umpiring crews this season as well. He was ejected along with Hoerner in Detroit and then the following day in Philadelphia. His most recent ejection came Aug. 28 in San Francisco after Ian Happ was rung up on a pitch off the outside of the plate.

“The goal is just to have a better strike zone. We should always be trying to make things better,” Counsell said. “If this gives us a better strike zone, great.”

But will it cut down on those arguments and ejections, as Counsell has fallen victim to this year?

“I mean, I don’t know,” he said, cracking a smile. “Maybe. I don’t know.”