Overview
- MLB’s ABS rollout for 2026 brought strict, uniform height checks that left hundreds of hitters listed shorter than last year.
- Yahoo Sports reports 171 players lost one inch, 48 lost two, and six lost three, including Bo Naylor now at 5-foot-9 and Connor Wong at 5-foot-10.
- Under ABS, the top of the zone sits at 53% of a hitter’s measured height and the bottom at 27%, which gives shorter batters smaller zones than taller peers such as Aaron Judge.
- The new protocol requires three measurements by lasers and by hand between 10 a.m. and noon with players barefoot and hatless, with thick hair compressed by the device.
- Players are leaning into the change, with Bo Naylor saying a smaller zone helps him and Miguel Rojas noting he had pushed to be listed at 6 feet but was set at 5-foot-10.