(670 The Score) A day after a controversial no-call on a check swing went against his team and left the door open for the Phillies to rally to a victory, Cubs manager Joe Maddon on Tuesday shared his belief that MLB needs to further research and make progress in implementing the use of technology to adjudicate such borderline calls.
"There needs to be research done," Maddon said on the Laurence Holmes Show on Tuesday afternoon. "When you talk about technology, they want to reinstitute the strike zone. I don't want that. I think there's going to be a lot of unintended consequences there (with an electronic strike zone) that aren't going to be good. I don't think it's going to benefit the hitters as much as the hitters think. With the check swing, I mean technology-wise, there's got to be a method from an angle to determine how to laser when a bat exceeds a certain spot.
"I'm thinking even implanting a chip in the head of every bat somehow that would permit this to be enacted."
On Monday evening, the Cubs led 4-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth when reliever Brad Brach worked a 2-2 count on Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen, bringing Chicago one strike from victory. On the ensuing pitch out of the zone, McCutchen started a swing that many believed he broke the plane on, only to have first-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt rule he didn't go. McCutchen followed by walking, and a Jean Segura bloop RBI single tied the game before Philadelphia won in 10 innings.
Afterward, the Cubs were somewhere between miffed and annoyed with how it all played out, and Maddon on Tuesday explained he believes that it's an area that baseball can improve in.
"That's the one part that really annoys me more than anything -- the subjectiveness of check swings," Maddon said. "Every umpire is different. I don't blame them. They all see it differently. I'm not banging on Hunter from last night at all. It's a really tough play for them to make, especially when a hitter uses a dark bat at night. You can hardly see the end of the bat.
"It's a really difficult play -- make that one easier."
