For years now in Major League Baseball, one of the biggest topics surrounding the game has been whether or not the league should pivot to robot umpires over human ones. People have become increasingly frustrated over some terrible calls from human umpires behind the plate, especially when they immediately get shown the technology like “Pitch Trax” as soon as the guy makes a call. Many wonder why we haven’t just gone to that kind of tech to improve the game and make the calls more accurate, as a tracker like that would be far more accurate than the human eye.
Dreams could become reality, as MLB has decided to test out this new tech in some Spring Training games and in the minor leagues. While Umps are still making calls in the game, we have already seen some calls get overturned by the pitch tracker.
Cody Decker, who is a former MLB player that hosts Bet for the Cycle on the BetMGM Network, doesn’t understand why anyone would oppose the new technology.
“I don’t care about the human element, and if you do, you’re stupid. That is all I got for you. Why do you want to watch a game that can be decided with the human element of a bad call? That’s the most insane thing in the world. We are talking about games we gamble on, why would you want a human element aspect to have any weight on any of these games? Technology works, and you say it’s one inch at a time for the miles of walking, no, this is death by a thousand cuts. Just chop the head off already.”
While that is a bit gruesome, many people agree with him and simply don’t get why baseball won’t embrace the obvious future of the game right now when they have already seen how newer tech has helped improve the ratings.
“We have already been doing this the last two years, MLB has implemented new rules already, and they have been a resounding success. Every single one of them,” continued Decker. “Even the ones that people claimed to hate like the extra inning rule, guess what? You’re wrong, the extra inning rule has been a resounding success, games have ended in the 10th inning at an exponentially higher rate. Games have ended faster because of it. They have already shown you the tech works, and we have known for 10 years this tech works. Just do it.”
The new Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) has proven so far to enforce a consistent, objective strike zone based on the rulebook definition. Hitters with strong plate discipline who can accurately judge balls and strikes stand to gain the most from this new system. These players refuse to swing at pitches outside the zone, even if human umpires will occasionally call them strikes. With ABS, those pitches would reliably be called balls, giving disciplined hitters more favorable counts.
One guy that comes to mind immediately is Steven Kwan on the Cleveland Guardians, who is known for his ability to make contact and very low strikeout rate. He avoids chasing bad pitches, which will come in handy with a system that rewards great strike zone judgement. He could see an even bigger increase in his already impressive on-base percentage as borderline calls might lean more in his favor.
I could also see the new system helping tall hitters, who have a natural strike zone that is larger and are called inconsistently from human umps. Someone like Aaron Judge, who stands 6-foot-7 for the New York Yankees, could be even better than he already is. Human umps struggle with his high strike zone, calling strikes on pitches that are too low and balls on ones that are too high. ABS would standardize his zone, which will eliminate bad calls and give him a more fair shot at driving baseballs.
In terms of pitchers, those that have elite command who can consistently hit the edges of the strike zone might see an increase in punchouts thanks to ABS. While he is getting older, Max Scherzer immediately comes to mind, as he has been very accurate throughout his legendary career. Someone that can hit the corners rather than relying on catcher framing or getting lucky with bad ump calls will benefit the most here. As hitters gain confidence in a standard strike zone, those who work outside the zone might lose their edge.
When will this tech be used in real MLB games? Who knows, but the arguments and calls for it to happen have never been louder.
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