If you’re hoping for robot umps in Major League Baseball, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
The Associated Press wrote on Thursday that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred alluded to it being unlikely that robot umps will arrive at games in the 2024 season. The automated system is being tested at the Triple-A level in the minor leagues.
“Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says the Automatic Ball-Strike System being used at Triple-A is not likely to be used in the big leagues in 2024,” the AP wrote. Manfred said, “I think there’s some sentiment among the group that we made had a lot of changes here. “We ought to let the dust settle, and there are clearly unresolved operational issues with respect to ABS. Despite all the testing, we still have some things that are unresolved.”
Fans have banged the drum on an automated system to replace the umpires behind the plate. While nobody wants to see anyone lose their jobs, there’s been an accountability problem for decades in MLB over umpiring. The fact that strike zones have so much variance is also frustrating for many fans and players.
On the contrary, opponents of an automated strike zone will point to a lack of an accurate definition of a strike zone. That is one of the biggest obstacles they’re also dealing with now. How they navigate will likely tell the story of when robot umps arrive at MLB.
[AP]
