Like hot dogs, overpriced beers, and ballpark specials, yelling at umpires is a baseball tradition—and some fans worry that Major League Baseball wants to take that away from them.
Since 2019, the MLB has been experimenting with “robot umpires” for review situations, called the “Automated Ball-Strike System.” While the name may bring up images of an iRobot/Jetsons figure standing behind the plate, robot umpires look more like surveillance cameras around the field that analyze pitches.
So fear not, the beloved men in blue won’t be leaving the field any time soon.
The experiment is currently taking place in Triple-A baseball and nine out of ten teams in the Florida State League. This year, Tuesday through Thursday games are using ABS to call pitches, and the umpire behind the plate relays the call. Friday-Sunday, the umpire will call pitches, and the ABS will be used to challenge calls if a batter, pitcher, or catcher wants to appeal the call.
The MLB plans on testing this system in the Majors as early as 2025’s spring training. If all goes to plan, fans could see these robot umpires in the 2026 regular season.
However, much of the confusion and controversy surrounding the robot umpires centers around the strike zone being “automatic.” It’s no secret that the rule book and the umpires have differing opinions on what the strike zone looks like. The MLB defines the strike zone as " the area over home plate from the midpoint between a batter's shoulders and the top of the uniform pants -- when the batter is in his stance and prepared to swing at a pitched ball -- and a point just below the kneecap. ” it isn’t always called that way.
Both casual and fanatic baseball fans know that the umpires take a few… liberties when it comes to the strike zone. An umpire will call a ball lower in the zone as a strike, but decide anything on the higher end is a ball. A different umpire may not like the low pitch and call it a ball.
However, ABS and its robot umpires will have to find success in spring training before hitting the MLB regular season. So for now, fans can expect to still hoot, holler, and tell the umpires exactly where to put it.
If the MLB needs more proof that robot umpires would take away from the beautiful game of baseball, just check out this bad-call moment:
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