Joe Nguyen is a digital strategist for The Denver Post. Previously he was the online prep sports editor. Prior to that, he covered Adams County and Aurora in the YourHub section. He has previously covered Colorado’s Asian-American communities as editor for Asian Avenue magazine and AsiaXpress.com.
FILE – An outfield screen shows a graphic indicating Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez challenged a pitch call, initiating a review with the automated ball-strike challenge system, in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training baseball game Sunday, Feb.
23, 2025, in Peoria, Ariz. FILE – A Trackman device used for the Automated Ball-Strike System is posted on the balcony behind home plate before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Phoenix. 23, 2025, in Peoria, Ariz. Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter — signaled by tapping their helmet or cap — and a team retains its challenge if successful. Reviews will be shown as digital graphics on outfield videoboards. New York Yankees outfielder Austin Slater, one of four players on the competition committee, said three voted in favor after getting support from 22 of the 30 teams. All six management reps voted in favor. “I think with any sort of technology, there’s not 100% certainty of the accurateness of the system,” Slater said. “I think the same can be said of umpires. So I think it’s just coming to grips with the impact that technology is going to have and whether or not we were willing to live with that error that was associated with the system, even if the error is very, very miniscule.”Adding the robot umps is likely to cut down on ejections. MLB said 61.5% of ejections among players, managers and coaches last year were related to balls and strikes, as were 60.3% this season through Sunday. The figures include ejections for derogatory comments, throwing equipment while protesting calls and inappropriate conduct. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who leads the American League in ejections for the fifth straight year, called the adoption “inevitable.” “Throughout the year, I’ve been a little not totally on board with it or exactly how it’s going to be implemented but it’s going to be here and hopefully that’s a good thing,” he said. “A lot of the things that Major League Baseball has done I think have been really successful in the changes they’ve made and hopefully this is another one of them.”“You can like it, dislike it, it doesn’t matter,” Vogt said as Cleveland prepared to open a critical three-game series with Detroit. “It’s coming. It’s going to change the game. It’s going to change the game forever.”At Triple-A at the start of the 2023 season, half the games used the robots for ball/strike calls and half had a human making decisions“I love it. I loved it in spring training,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Not all of the players, but most of the players, if you ask them, they really liked it too. I think it keeps everybody accountable. It keeps everybody on their toes.” At Triple-A this season, the average challenges per game increased to 4.2 from 3.9 through Sunday and the success rate dropped to 49.5% from 50.6%. Defenses were successful in 53.7% of challenges this year and offenses in 45%. In the first test at the big league All-Star Game, four of five challenges of plate umpire Dan Iassogna’s calls were successful in July. Teams in Triple-A do not get additional challenges in extra innings. The proposal approved Tuesday included a provision granting teams one additional challenge each inning if they don’t have challenges remaining. MLB has experimented with different shapes and interpretations of the strike zone with ABS, including versions that were three-dimensional. Currently, it calls strikes solely based on where the ball crosses the midpoint of the plate, 8.5 inches from the front and the back. The top of the strike zone is 53.5% of batter height and the bottom 27%. “Throughout this process we have worked on deploying the system in a way that’s acceptable to players,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The strong preference from players for the challenge format over using the technology to call every pitch was a key factor in determining the system we are announcing today.”The challenge system introduces ABS without eliminating pitch framing, a subtle art where catchers use their body and glove to try making borderline pitches look like strikes. Framing has become a critical skill for big league catchers, and there was concern that full-blown ABS would make some strong defensive catchers obsolete. In addition to Slater, other players on the competition committee are Arizona’s Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen, Detroit’s Casey Mize and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, with the Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ at Detroit’s Casey Mize as alternates. The union representatives make their decisions based on input from players on the 30 teams.Colorado weather: Hazardous snow forecast for high countryThe American Motel will soon meet its end, but memories of notorious Wheat Ridge establishment live onImproving Investor Behavior: The telltale signs of a market crashColorado's water war with Nebraska comes to a head over South Platte River
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
MLB to officially begin Robot Umps era — ABS set to be approved for 2026MLB’s Joint Competition Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday with the strong expectation that the Automated Ball Strike (ABS) system will be approved for the 2026 season.
Read more »
Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge systemMajor League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee has approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026
Read more »
Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge systemMajor League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee has approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026
Read more »
Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge systemMajor League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee has approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026.
Read more »
MLB approves robot umpires for 2026 as part of challenge systemMLB's 11-man competition committee on Tuesday approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026.
Read more »
Robot Umps Challenge System Approved For MLB in 2026Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee has approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026.
Read more »