The regular season is done (and so are the Mets & Yanks), so it is officially "Hot Stove" season in New York. This is our daily open thread to discuss the many possibilities in the Mets' first off-season headed by a President Of Baseball Operations (POBO). There are many intriguing story lines and rumors already spinning around in the media, so this is your opportunity to weigh in with your thoughts.
Today's topic:
Last year, MLB experimented with the robo-ump for calling balls and strikes in AAA. Should that technology be introduced into MLB in 2024?
12 comments:
As you know I am old school
I hate instant replay and hate AI even more
Give me flawed humans everytime
Agree with you, Mack.
No, keep the human element. The whole world is going to technological. If anything, let a manager challenge one ball/strike call per game.
What are the reactions of AAA players and mgrs? If they like it, I'm in favor, and vice vrrsa.
I like it, but I would widen the plate to 19” rather than thee 17” it is now. As we see, the AAA pitchers are getting killed. Giving them a better chance is fairer than squeezing them. Plus, missed calls cost games. Give me the roto umps for balls and strikes.
It's not where the catcher catches the ball (or moves the ball),
which is what I think umpires react to most...and viewers too.
The catcher is like 4 or more feet behind the plate.
It's where the ball actually crosses the plate...which is frequently
difficult to determine with human eyes...but not for a computer.
Give me the robo umps for balls and strikes, IF it's perfected...
which I'm not sure it is yet at AAA. Maybe the robo strike zone needs
to be a teeny bit bigger based on AAA results. It seems to be squeezing
the pitchers a bit much.
I see big breaking pitches go around the plate but look
like a strike once they're in the catchers mitt.
That's NOT a strike!
One is my very few articles on Macksmets was about the human element
I say it makes zero sense to have human (old one too) making balls and strikes calls
It is either a strike or not… let the robots make a consistent strike zone
No more being cheated a strike or robbed for one… it will be the same and then the players will dictate the results
Eddie
I have umpired behind the plate at a very low level of ball. I never looked at the catcher's glove. My focus was on the "plane" over the plate to see the ball cross it. I always thought the talent of "framing" was over-rated. When robo-ump is installed (not if but when), the whole framing myth goes out the window and catchers will be rated based on what they really should be doing - working with pitchers to defeat the batter and throwing out runners on the basepaths.
What I don't like about robo-umps is that it is set up for a "standard height" rather than having a strike zone customized to a player's stance. That gives an unfair advantage to tall batters because you can't get them up on a high fastball. That has to change.
I’m with Tex. It was horrible for AAA pitchers this year. They should widen it to the 19” in AAA for the 24 season. The ABS system also isn’t adjusted for short and tall players. If it works in AAA next year and maybe adjusted zones for short and tall players then try it in 25 Spring Training. Get it perfect before it comes to the Majors
It's not just the width that's the problem...although we're all disgusted when a guy
is punched out on a pitch 3-6 inches off the plate. I've seen it too many times.
But, when I was a kid, the strike zone was described as being from the letters to the knees. And that's what we used in our wiffle ball games.
Now, a pitch an inch above the belt is a ball. Well, I see half the home runs in a season
hit off of balls above the belt, esp. on hanging curves or helicopter sliders, and some guys actually kill that high fastball. But oh, none of them were strikes? It's a joke.
Likewise, at the bottom of the zone, a pitch that's diving fast, like a split finger, or a ghost fork, etc. is in the dirt when it reaches the catcher, but it caught the bottom of the zone when it crossed the plate. Those have got to be very hard for a human umpire to get right consistently. Get the robo program right, and do it ASAP.
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