Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!
Listen carefully—do you hear that off in the distance? It sounds like a booming voice announcing, “Attention, all stadia of the Triple-A Baseball Federation. We have assumed control.”
That’s the sound of robo umps completing their takeover of AAA ball, and we shouldn’t be surprised if they invade the big leagues soon. Per Buster Olney at ESPN, the electronic strike zone will be implemented in all Triple-A parks this year.
Two different types of Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) systems will be in play. Half of games will simply have an electronic strike zone for every pitch, while in the other half, an ABS challenge system will be employed.