Robot umpires are getting their first MLB test during spring training
1 month ago

Robot umpires are getting their first MLB test during spring training

Associated Press  

TAMPA, Fla. — A computerized system that calls balls and strikes is being tested during Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games starting Thursday after four years of experiments in the minor leagues. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this season. A Hawk-Eye pose-tracking system of cameras was installed and used to track pitches and whether they are within a strike zone based on the height of each batter, who is measured without shoes before a team’s first test game. Concerned the strike zone box on broadcasts could tip whether to challenge and cause fans to yell at players to challenge, MLB plans to experiment with several broadcast alternatives, among them: show the box but not the ball; show the ball but not the box; and to show only corners of the box.

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History of this topic

What we learned from MLB’s spring robot-umpire test: Players, managers, execs weigh in
2 days, 8 hours ago

What we learned from MLB’s spring robot-umpire test: Players, managers, execs weigh in

New York Times  

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Do you miss those robots yet? “It’s crazy,” Rogers said, “because on ABS, you look at the iPad … and half an inch below the zone. In his recent appearance on the Starkville podcast with me and Doug Glanville, Scherzer said one thing he’d like to see is “a buffer zone, maybe around the challenge system. There’s …

Dodgers ‘don't hate the idea’ of MLB’s automated ball/strike system
1 month ago

Dodgers ‘don't hate the idea’ of MLB’s automated ball/strike system

LA Times  

A replay shows on the scoreboard using the Automated Ball-Strike System during Thursday’s Dodgers-Cubs game at Camelback Ranch. So I said, ‘Save your challenges.’” In the Dodgers’ 12-4 spring training loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday at Camelback Ranch, Muncy obliged. After watching home plate umpire Tony Randazzo rule the pitch a ball, Poteet quickly tapped his head to …

Players 1, umpires 0: Cubs hurler Cody Poteet makes first ABS challenge in spring training and wins
1 month ago

Players 1, umpires 0: Cubs hurler Cody Poteet makes first ABS challenge in spring training and wins

Associated Press  

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Chicago Cubs pitcher Cody Poteet believed the 95 mph fastball he threw to Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Max Muncy was in the strike zone. “And every strike matters.” The first test of the Automated Ball-Strike System went off without a hitch Thursday, with Randazzo quickly reversing the call. The Cubs and World Series champion Dodgers opened the …

MLB will test robot umpires at 13 spring training ballparks hosting 19 teams
4 months ago

MLB will test robot umpires at 13 spring training ballparks hosting 19 teams

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball will test robot umpires as part of a challenge system during spring training at 13 ballparks hosting 19 teams, which could lead to regular-season use in 2026. An agreement for big league use would have to be reached with the Major League Baseball Umpires Association, whose collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. And we’re …

MLB switching to challenge system full-time for robot umpires experiment at Triple-A
9 months, 1 week ago

MLB switching to challenge system full-time for robot umpires experiment at Triple-A

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Baseball’s top minor leagues are switching to a challenge system full-time for their test of robot umpires. Starting June 25, only the challenge system will be used, according to a memo sent Tuesday from MLB vice president of on-field strategy Joe Martinez to farm directors and Triple-A managers that was obtained by The Associated Press. Baseball Commissioner …

Robots calling balls and strikes in MLB? Rob Manfred says ABS system unlikely in 2025
10 months ago

Robots calling balls and strikes in MLB? Rob Manfred says ABS system unlikely in 2025

LA Times  

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred arrives Thursday at a news conference following an owners meeting in New York. “One thing we did learn with the changes we went through last year, taking the extra time to make sure you have it right is definitely the best approach,” Manfred said. “The shape of the strike zone, we have not started …

Robot umpires in MLB could have ‘unintended consequences’ to strike zone, Manfred says
10 months ago

Robot umpires in MLB could have ‘unintended consequences’ to strike zone, Manfred says

New York Times  

NEW YORK — For at least a couple of years, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has made clear that if a form of the automated strike zone comes to the majors, he would prefer it to be a challenge system — used a handful of times a game — rather than a system that’s employed on every pitch. “The shape of …

MLB just tweaked Triple A’s electronic strike zone: What you need to know and why it matters
1 year, 6 months ago

MLB just tweaked Triple A’s electronic strike zone: What you need to know and why it matters

New York Times  

NEWS ITEM: Triple-A Robot Strike Zone Getting Bigger This Week Remember the simple days of yesteryear, when a strike was a strike and a ball was a ball? We ask because this week, Major League Baseball tweaked the electronic strike zone in both of its Triple-A leagues, for the benefit of robot umpires — and crouching hitters — everywhere. The …

What is a strike in baseball? Robots, rule book and umpires view it differently
1 year, 8 months ago

What is a strike in baseball? Robots, rule book and umpires view it differently

Associated Press  

SEATTLE — The education of robot umpires has been complicated by an open secret in baseball for the past 150 years: The strike zone called on the field doesn’t match the one mapped out in the rule book. The Official Baseball Rules define the strike zone as “that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal …

‘My eye over yours’: Ball-and-strike challenges, possibly coming to an MLB game near you
2 years, 4 months ago

‘My eye over yours’: Ball-and-strike challenges, possibly coming to an MLB game near you

New York Times  

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Earlier this month in the Arizona Fall League, Red Sox prospect Stephen Scott struck out looking on a fastball at the bottom of the zone. “It’s going to make the game a little more interesting,” said Braves prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy. But now, if players “feel they’ve been wronged,” he said, “they can challenge it.” Added Malloy: “It’s …

Automated strike zone coming to minors but a while from MLB
4 years ago

Automated strike zone coming to minors but a while from MLB

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — If a minor league player says an umpire is acting like a robot this year, he might be right. “It’s hard to handicap if, when or how it might be employed at the major league level, because it is a pretty substantial difference from the way the game is called today,” Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and …

MLB’s top prospects deal with good, bad of ‘robot’ umpires
5 years, 5 months ago

MLB’s top prospects deal with good, bad of ‘robot’ umpires

Associated Press  

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — First baseman Ali Sanchez was standing in the on-deck circle so he had a great vantage point of the two-strike breaking ball to Jacob Heyward. After about 25 games of the TrackMan at Salt River Fields, there’s something of a consensus: The system has its quirks and problems — particularly on breaking balls low in the zone …

Schmidt: Computer strike zone good, but check your hearing
5 years, 5 months ago

Schmidt: Computer strike zone good, but check your hearing

Associated Press  

A hot topic all year has been the idea of computerizing the strike zone, the rise of the robot umpires. My experience would say home plate umpires miss less than 10 pitch calls a game, out of an average of 225. The electronic field sends a beep signal to the ump, whenever a pitch touches any part of the isosceles …

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