Fans' calls for a computer-based version of the strike zone to replace human umpires aren't uncommon these days. That's especially true whenever a borderline call is revealed to have gone the wrong way on a television broadcast.
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The calls have only grown louder as advances in automated ball-strike (ABS) technology have allowed it to spread to every minor league level.
Beginning June 25, all Triple-A games fell under the ABS "challenge system." Rather than the "robo-ump" being the final arbiter for every ball and strike call, the challenge system gives teams a limited number of balls and strikes they can ask to be reviewed by the Hawk-Eye system in any given game. Teams retain the challenge if they are successful.
Of course, one question comes quickly to mind whenever the minutiae of minor league technology is discussed: when's it coming to the majors?
Commissioner Rob Manfred gave perhaps his strongest clue yet about a possible timeline. In a 1-on-1 interview with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Manfred definitively suggested the technology is closer to major league implementation than ever.
"I've been meeting with players for three years now, discussing this issue with them on and off," Manfred said. "I think it's really clear players prefer the challenge-type system. And we're going to take guidance from the players on that issue.
"In terms of timing, here's what I can tell you: We've got the technology nailed," Manfred continued. "It is good. We've got the path of the baseball to a 100th of an inch. It is really robust technology. There are certain technical issues related to how you define the strike zone and such that we are still working on. I hope we are going to make progress on those in the second half of the season. As far as [implementation], you can draw your own conclusion from this: Before we go live in a big league game, we're going to have a spring training test with Major League players."
If MLB is able to clear the remaining technical hurdles in the ABS system this year, there's apparently little standing in the way of a spring training test coming to MLB in 2025.
Manfred didn't say how — or if — a grace period between the spring training test and regular season rollout would follow. Perhaps the league would want more than the usual six-week spring training period to solicit feedback from players, umpires, and others prior to a full rollout in 2025.
In any event, it sounds like fans who are hoping for some version of an electronic umpiring system to alleviate baseball's long-sacred "human element" will get their wish soon.
About the writer
J.P. Hoornstra writes and edits Major League Baseball content. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers ... Read more
