GLENDALE, Ariz. — With two taps of his head, Cody Poteet offered a glimpse into what could be the future of baseball.

The gesture by the new Cubs righty meant he was challenging a call — in this case an 0-1 pitch against Max Muncy that was ruled a ball by the home plate umpire. Poteet was successful in using the Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) to challenge the call and the pitch was deemed a strike.

“I thought it caught a good amount of plate,” Poteet said after his outing. “So thought it was worth using one of them.”

With that, the Cubs quickly had their first taste of “robo-umps” during their Cactus League Opener at Camelback Ranch. The Cubs went on to beat the Dodgers 12-4 in the Cactus League opener.

Three pitches later, Poteet struck out Muncy on a 1-2 fastball.

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Poteet had some prior experience with the technology — he pitched in 10 games with the Yankees Triple-A affiliate last season.

“Using it a little bit last year, I guess it felt more normal, I guess,” Poteet said. “But it’s cool, I guess, to be the one to fire away. I wasn’t shy with it, for sure.”

Camelback Ranch, the spring training home of both the Dodgers and White Sox, is one of five ballparks in the Cactus League that has the technology for the ABS challenge system. Salt River Fields (Diamondback and Rockies, Peoria Sports Complex (Mariners and Padres), Surprise Stadium (Rangers and Royals) and Goodyear Ballpark (Guardians and Reds) are the other parks that have the technology. The Cubs’ Sloan Park does not have the ABS technology implemented.

“No,” Counsell said on Wednesday when asked if he had prepped his players for the new technology. “It’s a spring training game with a system that’s not being used during the season. We’ll tell the guys before they go up to the plate and the catcher before the game.”

“I mean, that [curiosity] will naturally happen, I think. But, again, it’s a test for some future, unknown thing. So, it’s a little hard to put your head and really prepare for it. There’s enough that we got to get ready for. I’m sure we’ll see the first one, and there’ll be maybe an ‘Ooh,’ maybe an ‘Ah.’”

With the ABS system, home plate umpires still make the calls on balls and strikes, but each team is permitted two challenges per game. If a team is successful in their challenge, they retain it, but if they are wrong, they will lose a challenge.

Only the hitter, the pitcher or the catcher can challenge a call and the decision to challenge must be made immediately — no one from the dugout can assist a player in whether to argue a call.

The system has been used in the minor leagues – first in the Florida State League in 2022. At the Triple-A level in 2023 and 2024, both the challenge system being used in Arizona and the full ABS (the technology deeming all balls and strikes) were used. After the 2024 season, the challenge system had been the favored method of use. MLB is testing the system in spring training as a barometer for potentially implementing in the future.

“It does bring a different dynamic into the game,” Poteet said. “So if it ever gets fully added or however gets used, I feel like it brings a dynamic that can bring another side to things, I guess.”