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Even if MLB concludes that this Atlantic League experiment is a raging success, you won't be seeing robot umps at Wrigley Field by, say, next April. There would be further testing in other leagues, and a phase-in program over multiple years. Plus it would all have to be negotiated with the players. So this is just the beginning but definitely not the end!

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TrackMan has no feelings, doesn't care who is on the mound, does no favors for whatever hitter is in the box, isn't interested in how the strike zone used to be called. To get a strike call from TrackMan, there is one thing that never changes:

Some portion of the baseball has to cross over the 17-inch span from one side of the plate to the other. Period.

So there's almost no such thing as a pitch "on the black" anymore. What has messed with many pitchers' minds in the Atlantic League, says York manager Mark Mason, is that "it's making them throw it over the white of the plate, not the black."

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3. Beware of the accidental strike!

Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi: The (pitches) that are going to be affected most are the misfires. Say you're trying to go away and you get the ball in. It's technically a strike, but it rarely ever gets called because you missed your spot Hitters aren't going to be happy (if that pitch is now a strike). But the bottom line is, if you want to call the strike zone, you have to call every inch of it.

For 100 years, the accidental strike has never been a strike. Ever. That fastball away that actually veers over the inside corner? It hasn't been a strike because it doesn't look like a strike. If the catcher has to dive from one side of the plate to the other just to catch it, what umpire on earth would call that pitch a strike?

The robot ump would. Who else? You were expecting maybe Joe West?

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Time of game Real umps 2:47, TrackMan 2:46
Runs per game Real umps 4.61, TrackMan 4.63
Strikeout percent Real umps 19.6%, TrackMan 19.6%
Walk percent Real umps 8.9%, TrackMan 8.1%

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Three different members of the Revolution told us the same story about their favorite moment of electronic-strike-zone craziness. It happened in a recent one-run game. The opposing hitter squared to bunt. That meant he was no longer standing straight up in the box. He was hunched over to lay down that bunt. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, only that the electronic strike zone didn't get the hunched-over memo. That's what.

York pitching coach Paul Fletcher: So he squares to bunt, and the ball's clearly over his head (because) he'd squatted. But the strike zone didn't change. So even though the ball was over his head, it rung him up for strike three and the guy went crazy. Hey, it benefited us, but I'll be honest. It was tough.

So how, you ask, did a pitch that was "clearly" over a hitter's head get called a strike? Because TrackMan had no interest in adjusting the top of the hitter's computerized strike zone simply because he'd just crouched into his bunt stance. Technically, maybe it's not supposed to. But it was a vivid illustration of the common-sense adjustments that human umpires make all the time and computers won't.

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On the delay...

In a recent game in New Britain, a York pitcher threw a 3-2 pitch that appeared to be low, to just about everyone. It was so "obviously" low, in fact, that the runner on first started jogging toward second, and the hitter began trotting toward first except, surprise it didn't look low to TrackMan. But by the time the home-plate ump signaled strike three, it was too late to throw out that baserunner stealing second, even though he didn't realize that's what he was doing.

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mathguy86 said:

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Ok. I want to see starters go 8IP each. There is 3 days for relievers to recover. This is about making a starter unusable until game 3

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mathguy86 said:

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Laureano "known for his defensive prowess but the metrics don't love him". Yeah. Because he's not a good defensive CF. He's got an arm that he has to use when he doesn't catch balls he should catch.

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cap-n-jack said:

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Who do we want to win?

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