Heading into the first season of ABS challenges in the major leagues, the Cleveland Guardians were seen as having an edge with Austin Hedges as their top defensive catcher. Then, after trading for Patrick Bailey in early May, the Guardians added to that advantage.
Bailey was one of the most aggressive MLB catchers when asking for a challenge, and it worked out well more often than not for Cleveland. Now, this year’s final totals show just how much Bailey made use of the new ball-strike system.
According to Codify Baseball, the Guardians catcher finished among MLB’s top ABS challengers, ranking second to William Contreras of the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.
“Most ABS Challenges By A Catcher (2026 Regular Season and Postseason): William Contreras, 214; Patrick Bailey, 150,” Codify posted.
Most ABS Challenges By A Catcher
(2026 Regular Season and Postseason):William Contreras, 214 😮
Patrick Bailey, 150
Tyler Stephenson, 136
Austin Wells, 135
Victor Caratini, 127
Joe Mack, 118
Keibert Ruiz, 118
Hunter Goodman, 113
Nick Fortes, 112 https://t.co/RtHspa99Hy— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 27, 2026
According to the ABS Challenge Dashboard, Bailey asked for a challenge 135 times during the regular season and was successful in getting a call overturned 56 percent of the time. By comparison, Contreras had a 58 percent success rate on 185 regular-season challenges, and Hedges was at 51 percent on 73 challenges.
Overall, the Guardians, as the defensive team (pitcher or catcher), were successful on 44 percent of their challenges, which ranked 27th out of 30 MLB teams. As the offensive team (batter), they were also at 44 percent, which ranked 26th. To no one’s surprise, Steven Kwan was their best regular hitter, with 56 percent of his challenges successful.
In the playoffs, with Bailey as its primary catcher, Cleveland was successful on defense just 35 percent of the time, which was better than only the Chicago Cubs at 33 percent. Yet, on offense, the Guardians improved to 88 percent, which ranked second behind the San Diego Padres.
Overall, there were 10,557 attempted ABS challenges during the regular season. A total of 5,686 ball-strike calls were overturned, which is a rate of 54 percent. Most of them came from the defensive team, who were successful 58 percent of the time. Meanwhile, batters got their challenges right at a 49 percent rate.
Hopefully, Bailey will continue to rely on the ABS system, and the Guardians will wind up better for it over the long haul.
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