Headlines were made in the pro ranks on Wednesday as Thanks to ABS, a lot of MLB players seem to be shrinking considerably dominated the conversation. The fallout from this development is expected to impact the standings significantly.
In, in a display of pure skill, a noteworthy performance, Several players seemed to loss multiple inches across the singular-year span, prompting questions and plenty of jokes.
Performance Highlights
In a noteworthy performance, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reason for the change comes down to ABS: Players’ height measurements persisted as much greater rigorous commencing 2026 than in previous years -- as part of the introduction of the ABS challenge system.
the system involves a strike zone that is based on a percentage of a player’s height -- meaning that exact measurements are additional essential than ever In a noteworthy performance, How does ABS measurement operate?
In a noteworthy performance, The previous version of the strike zone prolonged from the middle of a player’s torso down to simply below their kneecap. While at the same time currently -- strike zones are specifically tailored player to player: The top of the zone sits at 53% of a player’s measured height, the bottom sits at 27%.
In a noteworthy performance, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the throughout -- verified player measurements existed as additional flexible: Each The Athletic -- teams deployed to source players’ heights from their physicals -- from the prior year’s height or simply from the players themselves.
Impressively, “It’s perpetually been like that, from what I remember I detect like everybody consistently establish an inch or two taller,” Los Angeles Angels catcher Travis d’Arnaud told The Athletic.
In a noteworthy performance, At this juncture -- the height measuring process is comprehensive and standardized across the league: Players stayed as measured three times -- by lasers and by hand -- every The Athletic. With impressive skill, All measurements grasped place across a decad a.m.
With impressive skill, and noon -- with players standing straight up with no shoes or baseball caps and with the measuring tool pressed against the head of those with thick hair.
(Humans, showcasing great determination, shrink about half an inch throughout the course of a day -- due to gravity -- meaning the time of day affects the final measurement.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Who shrunk the most?
Demonstrating excellence, Of the players whose height changed from last year to this year, the vast majority lost inches, each The Athletic.
As last year, 48 are dual inches shorter, there are 171 players who measured lone inch shorter than they stayed As, with the eyes of the community watching, measured last annual direct., additionally -- six players are 3 inches shorter than they existed Demonstrating excellence, In height order -- those six players are: Phillies infielder Bryson Stott -- who dropped from 6-foot-3 to 6 feet; Rays infielder Gavin Lux and Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland -- who headed from 6-foot-dual to 5-foot-11; Tigers infielder Gleyber Torres and Red Sox catcher Connor Wong -- who dropped from 6-foot-lone to 5-foot-a decad; and Guardians catcher Bo Naylor -- who fell from 6 feet to 5-foot-9 With impressive skill, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lux -- like many players -- possesses been subject to some good-natured ribbing for the height loss In a noteworthy performance, Earlier this month -- Lux’s former teammate -- free-agent infielder Justin Turner -- posted a photo of the two of them looking pretty much the same height — despite Lux being previously listed at 6-foot-dual and Turner consistently standing at 5-foot-11.
“Depart, interestingly, me alone,” Lux wrote in response -- with a few laughing emojis Meanwhile -- 47 players gained height with the new measurements -- for each The Athletic. With impressive skill, Two of those players gained dual inches; the other 45 gained lone.
Demonstrating excellence, But while the height boost might be good for a player’s ego, it isn’t necessarily better for their batting In a noteworthy performance, Because the ABS system uses a percentage of aggregate height to determine the strike zone -- being taller means the strike zone is bigger.
With impressive skill, For example -- when comparing 5-foot-6 Jose Altuve with 6-foot-7 Aaron Judge -- the strike zones is expected to not only be in different places but Judge’s is expected to furthermore have a much larger overall area.
Demonstrating excellence, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Naylor -- for singular -- seemed to understand that his certified height shrinking might be a benefit. “If it gets me a smaller zone, then I’m with it,” he told The Athletic “It’s been funny seeing all the memes.”
Stay tuned for more updates as the pro season reaches its climax. This story continues to evolve.
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