The ABS or “Robo Umps” have brought so many changes to MLB that many things, including the heights of players, are changing. Due to the ABS rollout, the players are now measured barefoot, hatless, and standing flat against a wall. And that has given life to small banter between players, but also one major question, as thrown out by ex-Dodger Justin Turner.

Turner posted asking, “Question, are all these height changes from official MLB measuring for ABS or are guys trying to get away with shrinking the zone somehow by claiming they are smaller??” To this, one of the fans asked Turner about his former teammate with the Dodgers, Gavin Lux, whose height had also dropped significantly.

To this, Turner tagged Lux himself and asked, “You tell me??” and Lux commented back, saying, “Leave me alone.”

When Lux was with the Cincinnati Reds in 2025, he was measured at 6’2”. But with the introduction of the new ABS, his height has dropped to 5’11’ with the Tampa Bay Rays. Stricter measurement rules have caused the three-inch drop, rather than allowing them to report their own heights.

Coming to Turner’s question of whether players are purposely trying to reduce their heights, that can be ruled out. Because MLB officially does this, and they do it twice, so that there is no human error.

This step is very important because of how it will impact the strike zone of each batter. The strike zone is measured with 27% from the bottom and 53.5% of their measured height. And with a three-inch drop in Lux’s height, the top of the zone will also drop by 1.6 inches. And the bottom also drops by 0.8 inches, resulting in almost 2.5 inches of change in the zone.

But this isn’t just for Gavin Lux; players like Alex Bregman have experienced this in 2025, too. When Bregman went from the Astros to the Red Sox, his height dropped from 6 feet to 5’11’. And now with the Cubs, his height is 5’10”.

But the question isn’t just about the strike zone; the question is going to be about how the ABS is going to impact other aspects of the game.

What to expect from ABS in MLB, and how teams will navigate it

MLB introduced ABS, allowing batters or pitchers to issue instant challenges during the game. The game will give each team two challenges for its duration. With the Spring Training almost coming to an end, the data showed 4.1 challenges per game, and adding just 57 seconds on average. Pitchers and catchers overturned more calls than the batters in Spring Games.

For the Dodgers, Manager Dave Roberts said that he prefers that catchers take the call more than the pitchers. He says that it is to ensure accurate results. Even Edwin Diaz said that he trusts the catchers completely and will back their call.

We can already see players like Freddie Freeman tapping their helmets and adapting to the new rules with the season just a few days away.

With the Giants, they learned that there is no value in saving challenges until late in the game, as shown by Willy Adames. He used the challenge in a bases-loaded situation, which resulted in the Giants gaining a run on a walk. The call missed the zone by less than an inch. Their catcher, Patrick Bailey, went 10 for 12 on challenges.

Broadcaster Stephen Nelson admitted fans may resist initially. But he also said that the fans will warm up to it eventually.

The fans might not see the value of it now, but when it has a positive impact in a game and helps their respective team win games, they will embrace it.