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BRADENTON — Major League Baseball may soon begin the “Upon further review” portion of its balls and strikes calls.
After spring training wraps this week, MLB’s competition committee will begin collecting data from players, coaches, and umpires exposed to the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system used in 13 ballparks across Florida and Arizona. One of the 13 was Bradenton’s LECOM Park, spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After several years of experimenting with ABS in the minor leagues, the system was tested this spring at the MLB level. Dugouts were equipped with iPads for players to register complaints on pitch calls and make suggestions. Last season during a test run at the Triple-A level, 51% of the challenged calls were overturned, according to USA Today.
As opposed to the original system, which featured balls and strikes made 100% via technology, with the home plate umpire merely relaying the call, the system being considered allows each team two challenges per game. If the challenge is upheld, the team retains it.
“A group of people in baseball liked (the first system), and a separate group did not like that system,” said Morgan Sword, the MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations. “What we came up with was to compromise on the issue with this challenge system.
“We’re at a point in AAA where we have a system that the players like, the coaches like, the fans like, and the next step is to expose the system to our major league players and umpires and staff,” Sword said.
Last season in AAA, a challenge took an average of 17 seconds. On average, there were 3.9 challenges per game. In addition to spring data collected from players, coaches and umpires, MLB will observe the system for a full season at AAA before the competition committee determines if it’s suitable for baseball’s highest level. The earliest it would appear is for the 2026 season.
“The challenge system is really about trying to overturn a high-leverage pitch,” Sword said. “Typically, teams will adopt rules like you can’t challenge until you have two strikes or the pitchers aren’t allowed to challenge. Only the catchers. To use it on the handful of most impactful high-leverage pitches over the course of the game.”
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said, “I think if you’re using it in a regular season game, there’s going to be a lot more strategy. Well, I know there’s going to be a lot more strategy, at least on our end. But it’s very interesting to see how it’s going to progress.”
To accommodate the possible adoption of the system, Sword said each player will get his height measured. Should MLB eventually implement ABS, the strike zone he called “a living, breathing thing” will become far more definitive.
“The strike zone expands a little bit on 3-0, and it compresses a little bit on 0-2,” he said. “And when you’re moving from a human umpire to kind of a tech-based solution, you have to pick a much more rigid zone.”
As such, 53.5% of a player’s height will be the top part of his zone, and 27 percent of his height will be the bottom part.
“And if you’re 6-foot-1, it doesn’t matter what your stance is,” Sword said. “You will have the same zone as all 6-foot-1 hitters have. The top and bottom (parts of the zone) are set in proportion to a player’s height.”
LECOM Park usher Carl Eicehlaub said before every Pirates game this spring, the PA announcer explains the ABS system while a demonstration is shown on the videoboard. He said he saw a Pirates player challenge a call by tapping his helmet, then lose the challenge.
“You can’t argue when it’s up on the big board,” Eichenlaub said. “And all it took was about five seconds.”
If MLB adopts the system, Eichenlaub said he thinks it will make home plate umpires more accountable.
“Encourage the umpires to be a little more dedicated to each call,” he said. “Every week my wife shows me something on her phone where the (umpire) calls it a ball and it’s right down the middle, or he calls it a strike and it’s a foot outside.”
Last season, Pirates utilityman Nick Yorke saw the system in use in AAA. He hopes it forces umpires to improve.
“As players, we get held accountable for our ability,” said the 2020 draft pick of the Boston Red Sox. “If we don’t perform, we get benched, sent down, or released. I’m not saying anything like that should happen to umpires, but I think it’s good for them to see their reports and get feedback on how they’re doing as well. It makes umpires more locked in throughout the game.”
One thing seems certain: If ABS gets adopted, a batter jawing with an umpire over a strike call will be reduced to a tap on his helmet.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: The ABS challenge system was used in 13 ballparks this spring training
Continue reading...
After spring training wraps this week, MLB’s competition committee will begin collecting data from players, coaches, and umpires exposed to the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system used in 13 ballparks across Florida and Arizona. One of the 13 was Bradenton’s LECOM Park, spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After several years of experimenting with ABS in the minor leagues, the system was tested this spring at the MLB level. Dugouts were equipped with iPads for players to register complaints on pitch calls and make suggestions. Last season during a test run at the Triple-A level, 51% of the challenged calls were overturned, according to USA Today.
As opposed to the original system, which featured balls and strikes made 100% via technology, with the home plate umpire merely relaying the call, the system being considered allows each team two challenges per game. If the challenge is upheld, the team retains it.
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“A group of people in baseball liked (the first system), and a separate group did not like that system,” said Morgan Sword, the MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations. “What we came up with was to compromise on the issue with this challenge system.
“We’re at a point in AAA where we have a system that the players like, the coaches like, the fans like, and the next step is to expose the system to our major league players and umpires and staff,” Sword said.
Last season in AAA, a challenge took an average of 17 seconds. On average, there were 3.9 challenges per game. In addition to spring data collected from players, coaches and umpires, MLB will observe the system for a full season at AAA before the competition committee determines if it’s suitable for baseball’s highest level. The earliest it would appear is for the 2026 season.
“The challenge system is really about trying to overturn a high-leverage pitch,” Sword said. “Typically, teams will adopt rules like you can’t challenge until you have two strikes or the pitchers aren’t allowed to challenge. Only the catchers. To use it on the handful of most impactful high-leverage pitches over the course of the game.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said, “I think if you’re using it in a regular season game, there’s going to be a lot more strategy. Well, I know there’s going to be a lot more strategy, at least on our end. But it’s very interesting to see how it’s going to progress.”
To accommodate the possible adoption of the system, Sword said each player will get his height measured. Should MLB eventually implement ABS, the strike zone he called “a living, breathing thing” will become far more definitive.
“The strike zone expands a little bit on 3-0, and it compresses a little bit on 0-2,” he said. “And when you’re moving from a human umpire to kind of a tech-based solution, you have to pick a much more rigid zone.”
As such, 53.5% of a player’s height will be the top part of his zone, and 27 percent of his height will be the bottom part.
You must be registered for see images
“And if you’re 6-foot-1, it doesn’t matter what your stance is,” Sword said. “You will have the same zone as all 6-foot-1 hitters have. The top and bottom (parts of the zone) are set in proportion to a player’s height.”
LECOM Park usher Carl Eicehlaub said before every Pirates game this spring, the PA announcer explains the ABS system while a demonstration is shown on the videoboard. He said he saw a Pirates player challenge a call by tapping his helmet, then lose the challenge.
“You can’t argue when it’s up on the big board,” Eichenlaub said. “And all it took was about five seconds.”
You must be registered for see images attach
If MLB adopts the system, Eichenlaub said he thinks it will make home plate umpires more accountable.
“Encourage the umpires to be a little more dedicated to each call,” he said. “Every week my wife shows me something on her phone where the (umpire) calls it a ball and it’s right down the middle, or he calls it a strike and it’s a foot outside.”
Last season, Pirates utilityman Nick Yorke saw the system in use in AAA. He hopes it forces umpires to improve.
You must be registered for see images attach
“As players, we get held accountable for our ability,” said the 2020 draft pick of the Boston Red Sox. “If we don’t perform, we get benched, sent down, or released. I’m not saying anything like that should happen to umpires, but I think it’s good for them to see their reports and get feedback on how they’re doing as well. It makes umpires more locked in throughout the game.”
One thing seems certain: If ABS gets adopted, a batter jawing with an umpire over a strike call will be reduced to a tap on his helmet.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: The ABS challenge system was used in 13 ballparks this spring training
Continue reading...
