Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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According to a new poll of Major League Baseball players, a stunning number of them are against the use of robot umpires, or, as it is officially called, the automated ball-strike system (ABS) system. It appears that after testing the SBD system in Spring Training, most MLB players don’t find it worth implementing.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred reiterated last week that an automated ball-strike system (ABS) might be implemented league-wide next season. “I think that teams are really positive about ABS,” Manfred said. “You know, I do have that unscientific system that I use — my email traffic — and my distinct impression is that using ABS in Spring Training has made people more prone to complain about balls and strike calls via email, to me, referencing the need for ABS. That is undoubtedly true, undoubtedly true.”
Apparently not many of those emails came from actual Major League Baseball players. At least not according to a new poll by The Athletic. Out of 134 players who responded to the poll, an eye-popping 63.4 percent said they don’t want robot umpires calling balls and strikes. Only 17.2 percent voted in the positive, while 19.4 percent said they weren’t sure if they wanted the ABS system implemented.
“It has proven ineffective in Triple A and everywhere they tested it,” one National League pitcher claimed (which may or may not actually be true). “Why would you remove the human element? The game will fundamentally change in a way that fans are definitely not going to like. It will make injuries and the competitive nature of the game worse. There would be fewer balls in play and the games take longer. All proven.”
Other downsides of the ABS system some players cited were a loss of the human element, a decrease in the value of catchers who are good at framing pitches, and hitters becoming less aggressive when they know that pitchers won’t be able to get a strike call with a pitch just off the edge of the plate from a generous umpire.
“My single biggest concern is working through the process and deploying it in a way that’s acceptable to the players,” Manfred said last week. “There’s always going to be things around the edges that we need to work through and whatever, and I want them to feel like we respected the committee process and that there was a full airing of concerns about the system, and an attempt to address those concerns before we go forward.”
What that ends up looking like is anyone’s guess right now.