The introduction of the automated ball-strike (ABS) system has come with an interesting side effect: MLB players appear to be shrinking.
Earlier this month, as teams unveiled players’ official measurements ahead of the season, fans noticed significant differences between players’ heights this year and last year. Several players seemed to lose multiple inches over the one-year span, prompting questions and plenty of jokes.
The reason for the change comes down to ABS: Players’ height measurements were much more rigorous in 2026 than in previous years, as part of the introduction of the ABS challenge system. The system introduces a new strike zone that is based on a percentage of a player’s height, meaning that an exact measurement is more important.
How does ABS measurement work?
Though the strike zone has changed over the years, the previous version goes from the middle of a players’ torso down to just below their kneecap. Now, strike zones will be specifically tailored player to player: The top of the zone will sit at 53% of a player’s measured height, while the bottom sits at 27%. In other words, the strike zone will sit around the top half of a player’s bottom half.
In the past, official measurements were more flexible: Per The Athletic, teams used to source players’ heights from their physicals, from last year’s height, or just from the players themselves.
“It’s always been like that, from what I remember. I feel like everybody always put an inch or two taller,” Los Angeles Angels catcher Travis d’Arnaud told The Athletic.
Now, the measuring process to ensure that the players’ heights are accurate is comprehensive and standardized across the league: Players are measured three times, by lasers and by hand, per The Athletic.
All measurements take place between 10 a.m. 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. (Human shrink about half an inch over the course of the day, due to gravity, meaning that the time of day does affect the final measurement.)
So who’s shrunk the most?
Of the players whose height changed between this year and last year, the vast majority lost inches, per The Athletic. 171 players are 1 inch shorter than they were last year; 48 are 2 inches shorter. And six players are 3 inches shorter than they were measured last season.
In height order, those six players are: Phillies infielder Bryson Stott, who dropped from 6-foot-3 to 6 feet even; Rays infielder Gavin Lux and Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland, who both went from 6-foot-2 to 5-foot-11; Tigers infielder Gleyber Torres and Red Sox catcher Connor Wong, who both dropped from 6-foot-1 to 5-foot-10; and Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, whose height fell from 6 feet even to 5-foot-9.
Lux, like many players, has been subject to some good-natured ribbing for the height loss. 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-2 and Turner consistently standing at 5-foot-11.
“Leave me alone,” Lux wrote in response, with a few laughing emojis.
Only 47 lucky folks gained height with the new measurements, per The Athletic. Two of those players gained 2 inches; the other 45 gained 1.
With that said, though the height boost might be better for a player’s ego, it isn’t necessarily better for their batting. Because the ABS system uses a percentage of the total height, being taller means that the strike zone is bigger compared to a shorter player’s zone. For example, when comparing 5-foot-6 Jose Altuve with 6-foot-7 Aaron Judge, the strike zones will not only be in different places, but Judge’s will have a larger overall area.
Naylor, for example, seemed to understand that his official height shrinking might be a benefit.
“If it gets me a smaller zone, then I’m with it,” Naylor told The Athletic. “It’s been funny seeing all the memes.”
