An automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system will be trialed at 13 ballparks hosting 19 Major League Baseball teams in 2025, reported CNN. It means robot umpires will be part of a challenge system during Spring training next year, with an eye on implementing the system in the 2026 regular season.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told CNN, “I think we will have a Spring training ABS test that will provide a meaningful opportunity for all Major League players to see what the challenge system will look like.”
Players’ experience with it will go a long way in deciding when it will be implemented, Manfred was quoted as saying by CNN.
While human umpires will still call balls and strikes, teams that now have a limited number of challenges with which they can appeal on-field decisions, will be able to summon the robot umpires. The ABS technology uses Hawk-Eye cameras to track the location of each pitch in relation to the strike zone, CNN stated.
Manfred said it was a crucial time as the human umpires’ collective bargaining agreement was set to expire on December 1 this year, as per Associated Press. There are ongoing conversations between the MLB and the Umpires Association in relation to the new technology, and CNN quoted Manfred as saying, “We do have a collective bargaining obligation there. That’s obviously a term and condition of employment. We’re going to have to work through that issue, as well,” Manfred said.
The tech won’t be in every single ballpark, he added, but “we actually have a plan where every team will get meaningful exposure to that,” Manfred said.
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