ARLINGTON, Texas — Major League Baseball could test a version of the automated strike zone during spring training next season, Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday. If successful, the system could not be implemented until 2026, but there is no guarantee that MLB will ultimately test it during spring training next year.
MLB has tested two different forms of the automated ball-striking system, or ABS, in the minor leagues, one where it is used on every pitch and one where teams can challenge a certain number of calls per game. The challenge system is the one Manfred favors.
“It’s unlikely that we’re going to bring ABS to the major leagues without a spring training test,” Manfred said in remarks to members of the Baseball Writers Association of America at an annual meeting before the All-Star Game. “So if it’s 2024, that leaves me with 2025 as a year to do your spring training test, if we can work out those issues. That would make 2026 a viable possibility. But you know, is that going to be the year? I’m not going to get into that.”
Manfred added: “We have technical issues regarding the definition of the strike zone that still need to be resolved.”
Manfred said the league has been listening to players’ feedback. Players’ union president Tony Clark said the players’ experiences have been “interesting.”
“There are those who are not interested in any of this at all,” Clark said. “There are those who have concerns even with the protest system about how the strike zone itself is going to be viewed: what it looks like, how consistent it’s going to be. What happens in a world where Wi-Fi goes down in the stadium, or technology goes down or acts up on any given night? We see those issues even in minor league stadiums. We don’t want to be in a world where, in a major league stadium, we’re left with more questions than answers about the integrity of that night’s game, or the decisions that go into it.”
“What we’re seeing and hearing is that the challenge system is probably the end point. Nothing has been formally presented at this point. Players will give their feedback formally when they do.”
Implementation of the ABS would go through MLB’s competition committee, a group of league members and players created by the collective bargaining agreement. The league ultimately controls that body because it has more votes. But the change would require approval from another group: the umpires. The umpires have their own union and are currently negotiating a new deal with the league, with the current deal set to expire after this season. People briefed on the umpires’ collective bargaining agreement said MLB’s implementation of a protest system would have to be a matter of collective bargaining.
Manfred has previously said the shape of the strike zone designated by an automated system is a concern because human umpires don’t maintain a perfect rectangular area, but rather an oval. There are also concerns about how catchers whose careers are sustained by their framing abilities could be affected.
(Photo: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
News Source : www.nytimes.com
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