It was announced a few weeks back Major League Baseball will be experimenting with an automated strike zone at nine facilities during Spring Training in 2020. This comes after game usage in 2019 in the Atlantic League and the Arizona Fall League. It’s pretty clear, Commissioner Rob Manfred wants “Robo-Umps” at home plate. It seems a very safe bet they’ll be used more, the technology will improve and we’ll see an MLB system implemented within the next three seasons. Is it good? Bad? No difference? Let’s look at a few things.
The first thing needing to be discussed is the author…me…is an amateur umpire.