Since Bud Selig departed from office and was replaced by Rob Manfred as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, there has been a tidal wave of changes suggested and implemented throughout all facets of professional baseball ranging from the majors to “unaffiliated” independent league teams. 

Most of the suggested changes were made or tested to increase the so-called “pace of play” of your typical MLB or MiLB game, with the hopes of bringing more fans through the turnstiles – i.e., bringing in more money. 

To die-hard fans, there are several problems with this, but that’s another topic for another day. 

Several changes that have already been implemented are the use of pitch clocks (although they are more for show and are not being enforced) and placing an automatic runner at second base to begin every extra inning at every level of minor league play. There is also talk of making changes to the physical dimensions of the playing field, although this seems a bit of a reach.

However, without question, the single biggest potential change that fans, players and coaches alike should (in theory) all support, seems to be one taking the longest time to get off the ground – an automated strike zone.

There has always been the issue of umpires having their own unique strike zones or maybe they miss something because of a good frame job by the catcher. But either way, players, fans, and coaches all get upset over blown calls. It could be a called third strike that is way out of the zone that upsets the offense, or a ball just inside the strike zone but called ball four that irks the defense. 

In the World Series alone, there were some questionable calls that could have been a difference-maker or not, but it’s the principle of it all more than anything, as ThinkBlue LA’s Ron Cervenka pointed out in his piece “When Everybody Knows Your Name.“

As technology progresses, such as Pitch Tracker used during nearly every televised MLB broadcast and on the MLB At-Bat app, the idea of using electronics to call balls and strikes seems to have a high level of appeal and is gaining momentum. Because of this, MLB launched tests on an automated strike zone in the independent Atlantic League and in the popular and prestigious MLB-affiliated Arizona Fall League (AFL) this season to see if robotic umpires, officially named ‘automated ball-strike system’ (ABS) and a product of TrackMan, are a viable option for future use in Major League Baseball.

According to their website, TrackMan is a “3D Doppler radar paired with sophisticated video and game scoring solutions.” The TrackMan system is already in place in all 30 MLB parks as well as a large chunk of MiLB stadiums, as the system is (as noted) used for the MLB At-Bat and First-Pitch apps. In conjunction with a scorekeeper at a computer placing hit balls and confirming each pitch, TrackMan records the location and speed of the pitches.

The new twist with the robot umpires is that the information on whether the pitch was a ball or a strike gets transferred down to the field to an umpire who is wearing an earpiece connected to an iPhone. The umpire takes the information from the system and then verbally calls out what the pitch was.  

In theory, it seems like the perfect solution to missed and/or blown calls, but as with any new technology, there are pros and cons, so it’s all about weighing them out and seeing if Robo umps could be the future of MLB or if it needs to go back to the drawing board. 

The biggest pro would have to be that it completely eliminates human error. If an umpire were to blink or sneeze at the wrong moment, they could easily miss a pitch’s initial location, especially if the catcher were to frame it in the instant the umpire had their eyes closed. But with the use of technology, there is no risk of that specifically happening. However, a con is that there is always the risk of something short-circuiting or just malfunctioning in general. Still, the likelihood of these things happening versus the potential for human error is far less likely. 

Obviously, things need to change, as CC Sabathia (among others) can attest to in this story from CBS, as we all saw many atrocious blown calls during the regular season and postseason. But at the same time, it will require players from all over the baseball spectrum to make changes. Players in the test were still prone to arguing the calls made by the robot umps, resulting in ejections.

But overall, the system had the facts to back up the call and it was and will continue to be a learning curve from here on out, as recapped in this excellent article by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, who spoke with AFL players about their experiences with TrackMan. 

Now that all of the minor league testings of the ABS is finished for this season, the potential next step is testing the electronic strike zone technology during spring training games, where a lot more fans could see it in action, as well as continued – and increased – use in affiliated Minor League Baseball. 

As is the case with just about anything new, it will come down to weighing the pros and cons to see which option is … less bad.

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