Umpires on notice: College Baseball trying out ABS, with SEC using for conference tournament

If it's working at the MLB level, we might as well start gauging the temperature of the ABS challenge system in college baseball.

At least that’s the thought process inside the Southeastern Conference offices in Birmingham, Alabama, as the SEC tournament approaches in three weeks.

Since officially arriving this season in Major League Baseball, there has been an uptick in conversation surrounding the Automated Balls and Strikes mechanism that has seen plenty of fanfare in the professional ranks.

The crowd has seemed to enjoy the crazy moments that come when a player challenges a pitch, and most notably when a pitcher decides to try their luck with a challenge that ends up making them look even worse than the throw itself.

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Now, there will be ABS at the college baseball level, with the SEC submitting a proposal to the NCAA for them to be able to use the system later this month in Hoover, Alabama.

After first being tested in the minor leagues, and only arriving at the MLB level this year, the concept allows pitchers, batters or catchers to challenge a call made by the home plate umpire on whether the pitch was a ball or strike.

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In the MLB, teams are only afforded two challenges per game.

But, there will be a difference when SEC teams take to the mound later this month with the ABS system.

At the SEC Tournament, each team will be given three challenges to start the game, with an additional challenge given if said contest were to go into extra innings.

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Who knows how this will turn out, but I would imagine this brings an extra bit of juice to each game in Alabama, especially for those in attendance.

"The introduction of this challenge system at the SEC Tournament reflects our continued commitment to innovation," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "This addition represents a continued step forward for our game, aligns more closely with the professional level and supports the development of our student-athletes as they prepare for success at the next level."

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How will the SEC set up the new system for its tournament?

The Hoover Met will be equipped with cameras, which will track the movement of the baseball. This is how the automated system can place the location of the ball within the strike zone.

•     Measurements of each player will be gathered prior to each team’s first game of the SEC Tournament. This will determine the appropriate strike zone for each individual player based on each player’s height.

•     Each team will start a game with three challenges. The challenge must be initiated immediately after the conclusion of the prior pitch, provided that if there is an ensuing play on a runner (including a batter-runner), or an appeal of a check-swing, the call may be challenged immediately upon the conclusion of the ensuing play.

The question is whether this will be implemented on a full-time basis within the conference moving forward. That is something SEC officials will discuss over the next few months during meetings, and maybe we start to see this being used more in the future.

Obviously, this would not have been implemented at the conference tournament without SEC coaches being on board with the move.

This should spice things up a bit in the southern heat of Alabama later this month.