The wise men and women of baseball love to divide every season into 40-game increments. We’d like to thank them, right here and now, for that — because it provides such a convenient excuse to write columns like this one. So here it comes …What We’ve Learned from the First 40 Games in 2026.We had to wait until now to write this because it took until Wednesday for all 30 teams to cross the 40-game mile marker. But once they got there, it was time to take stock of another fascinating season.We’re a long way from the finish line, obviously. If this MLB season were a cross-country drive, from South Beach to the Santa Monica Pier, we’d still only be passing through Chattanooga, Tenn. But have we logged enough mileage to get a feel for what we’re watching? Let’s all vote yes on that.So how have those robot umps changed the sport? Are the Pirates really going to be a playoff team? Is the National League really this much better than the American League? Do we already have two new superstars in our midst, before either of them has even turned 22? Did the whole league misevaluate Munetaka Murakami? Are the Braves the best team in baseball?We’ve dug into all of that and more, with lots of helpful insight from a half-dozen of the most insightful front-office minds we know. So let’s start by asking …Why do robots love the walk?The early data on walks and swings in the ABS era is striking. Will MLB make adjustments? (Thomas Skrlj / MLB Photos via Getty Images)All you had to do was look at the minor-league data to predict we’d hear those magic words, ball four, a little more this season. But this much more? Who knew!Thanks to the newfangled robotized strike zone that is empowering the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system (ABS), we’re seeing one of the biggest explosions in walk rates in the last 75 years.MOST WALKS PER GAME SINCE 19512000 — 3.75