MLB will use robot umpires beginning next season

Major League Baseball will use so-called robot umpires at home plate beginning in 2026…

Major League Baseball has decided to adopt an Automatic Ball Strike (ABS) system. Human umpires will still be part of the game, but when a pitcher, catcher, or batter challenges a call, MLB will use the new ABS system to determine whether the pitch was a strike or ball. It’s designed to eliminate umpire mistakes and reduce drama after questionable calls, but I can’t help thinking it takes away some of baseball’s humanity.

They’re trying so hard to make the game more efficient because of complaints about lengthy games that they’re making it sterile and soulless, in my opinion. Part of baseball’s excitement comes from not knowing what will happen next. Even when an umpire makes a bad call, it adds character to what can be a slow-paced game. We’ll see how it plays out next season, but I think we need to stop obsessing over “efficiency” and just enjoy the game. Let us make mistakes and work through them.

If there’s a silver lining to this new system, it’s that each player will have their official height recorded, and their strike zone will be adjusted accordingly. Also, when a challenge is made, MLB says the system should take only 15 seconds to determine whether the pitch was inside or outside the strike zone. Each team gets two challenges per game, but if a challenge successfully overturns a call, that team doesn’t lose one of their challenges and can still use both for the remainder of the game.