Robot Umpires

In light of Hunter Wendelstedt’s poor game on Friday, Lee Judge wonders if automated called balls and strikes would be better:

An automated strike zone would mean a consistent strike zone no matter who is at the plate or on the mound. Ballplayers believe All-Stars get calls that the peons don’t get, and the automated strike zone would cure that.

It would also take pitch “framing” out of the equation.

Catchers have a variety of tricks for making balls look more like strikes; swaying to one side or the other to keep the pitch between the shin guards, angling the catcher’s mitt to present the pitch in the best possible light, pulling the pitch in to the strike zone or “sticking the pitch” by holding it in place when it hits a corner.

With an automated strike zone, none of that would matter; the pitch either hit the zone or it didn’t and what the catcher does would be irrelevant.

I like that Judge refers to pitch framing as a trick. It’s cheating, and I’m glad someone wants to see it disappear. It would also be good to get rid of umpires who call a strike when a pitch hits the catcher’s target, rather than when it goes through the strike zone.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/1WI2guH