Automated umpires seem to be getting closer to arriving in the big leagues.
According to Buster Olney of ESPN, robot umps will be deployed in all Triple-A ballparks for the upcoming 2023 season.
As part of the initiative, the automated system will be implemented in one of two different ways at every park, Olney reports.
Half of the ballparks will have an electronic strike zone, with all balls and strikes being called by the robots, while the other half will have a challenge system, with managers allotted three challenges per game. In the latter arrangement, managers will retain challenges that are correct.
The technology is called the Automatic Balls and Strikes system, or ABS.
According to Olney, there is no "immediate plan" to bring ABS to the Major Leagues, but there seems to be momentum in that direction.
The ABS launched in professional baseball in 2019, when it was deployed in the independent Atlantic League and, later, the Arizona Fall League, MLB's end-of-season showcase circuit for minor league prospects.
In 2021, the ABS was adopted in some Class A ballparks, and last season it was implemented in some Triple-A parks.
Olney reports that early responses to the challenge system in Triple-A were "surprisingly positive."
The first-year feedback on the challenge system was surprisingly positive, according to club staffers, with some in the industry beginning to believe that this might be a good first step in utilizing ball-strike technology.
But at least one pitcher who has experience with ABS isn't so sure.
"This is bad," tweeted Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly.
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