Seems odd to only change the distance for the second half of the season. It seems you would want an entire off-season as a pitcher to adjust to the change. If they were going to do this, seems like it should have been announced in October.

toucan82 said:

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Isn't that what made the robots take over in "The Matrix"?

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That is my recollection, yes

The unintended consequence is what bothers me the most. Catching is an art. The job description changes and you eliminate the need for a highly coveted and specialized skill set (receiving hands).

It won't be very visually pleasing to see a guy with average hands behind the plate because the robo-ump doesn't need him to be better than that. Any guy with an adequate arm who can hit can catch at that point.

DannyDuberstein said:

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While it may neutralize pitch framing, i think the biggest art of catching is calling the game. Then there is still receiving pitches in the dirt with men on base. Still quite a bit of art and skill required.

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Pitch calling is less important today than it's ever been. The pitch sequence road map is established in advance by data. The pitchers are in charge for the most part. Gary Sanchez is your prototype for every team if you go with robo-umps (or worse). He can't receive, call a game or block balls in the dirt but he can hit.

94chem said:

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It will drastically change pitching, imo.

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It will drastically change the modern saber valuation of a catcher also.

DannyDuberstein said:

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While it may neutralize pitch framing, i think the biggest art of catching is calling the game. Then there is still receiving pitches in the dirt with men on base. Still quite a bit of art and skill required.

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I'm with Duberstein here.


Bring on robo-umps. Most casual fans will never know the difference.

The biggest human element there is in baseball is the fact that you can still turn the ball into a weapon against someone else. There will be plenty of "human" stuff left for those that want to see that with bean balls and brush back pitches, etc.




And while we're at it. Want to limit mound meetings? Figure out a way to have the catcher communicate with the pitcher with abolutely no way to crack it. An ear piece or something... I'm not sure. The catcher cross up and the worry about 2nd base stealing signs causes more meetings than anything.

GarrettL_15 said:

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not a fan of the robo-ump. it takes the humanity out of that aspect

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I couldn't care more about the "human aspect". Umps are a annoyance they add nothing to the game.i can't wait until they are out of all sports. One thing we want in sports is fairness and as long as you have the human aspect you won't have it.

What really irks me, is that we wouldn't be having this discussion if there were real accountability from MLB on the performance of the umpires. In the real world of corporate business, employee evaluations are a routine part of the conditions of employment. Employees who don't perform are placed on performance plans, and if they continue to fall short of their specific goals, they are terminated.

Clearly, baseball doesn't participate in this process (likely due to collective bargaining). If they did, horrible umpires like Joe West & Angel Hernandez would have been run out of baseball a long time ago.