The Bots Are Coming for You.

Don't worry -- they only check for strikes

Thanks for reading The Dope.

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As part of MLB officials’ evil plan to incorporate robots to take over the industry, they’ll employ a software system to correct maybe a couple of strike or ball calls during the All-Star goings-on next week.

Say, I’m pretty sure I just made that sound somewhat less than an overthrow of the baseball government.

It is possible that, in fact, this is somewhat less than an overthrow of the baseball government.

If you’re the sort of person who becomes upset at developments like the use of robo-umps, as they’re often and utterly incorrectly called, allow me to soothe your frayed nerves:

1.) Nobody wants a bot to handle the umpiring behind the plate.

2.) Many people, including more than 70% of fans polled during spring training, like a software system that allows players to challenge the most egregiously incorrect calls on balls and strikes.

3.) They use it in the minor leagues.

4.) It works!

5.) No big whoop.

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The announcement that the ABS challenge system will be used during the All-Star Game in Atlanta is one point on a longer timeline. Commissioner Rob Manfred has publicly suggested that the system might be used during the 2026 MLB season, which means it will be. In that regard, next week is a test run.

And “test” is the right word. ABS, which stands for Automated Ball-Strike System, isn’t a perfected technology — or, a better way to put it, it is a great technology that might still be wrong for the game. Several MLB pitchers and catchers have already worried that the system calls balls and strikes too precisely, which removes the time-honored baseball nuance of umpires giving a little room around the edges and making the zone fluid depending upon the circumstances.

As the parent of a hitter and not a pitcher, I could give a damn about that particular sob story. But Baseball, capital B, really does have to weigh what any given technology brings to the sport against what it takes away.

That said, the concern is overblown.

ABS has been a hit in the minor leagues, which MLB uses as a proving ground for all its ideas, including the stupid ones. What the players, coaches, managers and front offices eventually came around to was that they love ABS when it is employed strictly to challenge calls, on a limited basis. When ABS was used as the arbiter for every single pitch in games, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Turns out, people like people umpiring their games.

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That’s how it will go in the Majors. The All-Star Game will mimic how ABS is currently used at Triple-A:

Teams get two challenges per game, but if they’re correct in a challenge, they get to keep it.

Only the pitcher, catcher or batter can ask for a review. No help from the dugouts, period.

The challenge has to be nearly instantaneous, or it is disallowed.

The result is available almost immediately.

It takes no time at all. And everybody in the park can just look to the video board in the outfield, since that is where the graphic is uploaded and displayed. We fans find out at the same time as the teams.

I always thought I was a traditionalist in baseball, but there’s nothing compelling about watching an umpire — who’s really, really good, by the way — blow a huge ball/strike call at a critical juncture in a game. For years, we’ve thought, “There has to be a way to fix this.” And there is. And it’s easy. They’re not putting a microchip in your brain or anything.

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The All-Stars will botch it, of course. They’re not used to ABS, so somebody will challenge something and be wrong by a foot. But once this is implemented in the Majors, it’ll become a great strategy point in games. With only two challenges, teams will have to remind players to be incredibly careful about when and why they deploy them — they could come in mighty handy in the latter innings.

That’s one huge difference in how the system is currently used in the minors, where it’s every man for himself. At Triple-A, you’ll see a hitter challenge, say, Strike Two in his first at-bat of the evening. Hey, he’s got an average to protect. His entire future is built on numbers.

It won’t be that way at MLB, because teams won’t stand for players burning challenges selfishly or foolishly. What will happen, and I’m sure of this, is that a few wrong calls by umps will get fixed in real time. Sometimes the players will be wrong (it’s about 50% of the time in the minors), but generally speaking, on a big miss, the corrected pitch call will be made after only the briefest interruption.

The game will go on. And in this case, it will be better for the bots. And their overlords, one supposes. (We can worry about that next century.)

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