The Los Angeles Dodgers have quickly turned a spring training weakness into a regular-season strength, emerging as one of the most effective teams in Major League Baseball when it comes to challenging calls using the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system. With a 59.8% success rate on ABS challenges—fourth best in the majors—the Dodgers are proving that practice and precision pay off.

Leading the charge are two standout players: outfielder Teoscar Hernández and catcher Will Smith. Hernández has been nearly flawless at the plate, successfully challenging seven pitches with only one overturned call against him. His 85.7% success rate is the best among all MLB hitters with at least six correct challenges. For context, Houston’s José Altuve leads the league with nine successful challenges, but it took him 13 attempts (69.2%), while Milwaukee’s Gary Sánchez has seven correct calls on 16 tries (43.8%).

Behind the dish, Smith has been equally impressive. He’s gone 28-for-37 on challenges, a 75.7% clip that puts him just one successful challenge behind MLB leader William Contreras. But Contreras needed 51 attempts to reach 29 overturns (56.9%), highlighting Smith’s efficiency and sharp eye for borderline pitches.

As a team, the Dodgers rank seventh in both batter challenges (50%) and catcher challenges (67.4%), showing balanced excellence across the roster. After a rocky spring training where few challenges went their way, Los Angeles has clearly adjusted to the ABS era—and Hernández and Smith are setting the gold standard for how to win the challenge game.