America’s pastime of watching baseball is rumored to have a momentous change in future seasons that could potentially flip the game upside down. Robotic umpires are threatening to take over the MLB. If this happens, human home plate umpires will be replaced by an automatic ball-strike system (ABS).

An automated umpire system has already been implemented at the Triple-A level of the Minor Leagues. Batters are given the opportunity to appeal a called strike if they believe the pitch was a ball. Similarly, pitchers and catchers can appeal balls that they believe should have been called strikes. Once a pitch has been appealed, the automated system will examine the pitch and have the final say in whether it’s deemed a ball or a strike. 

Another form of ABS exists, calling each pitch behind home plate and relays information to the umpire. It remains the umpire’s duty to call a pitch a ball or a strike, however, they have a robot feeding the “correct” call to them. While this may seem like a revolutionary idea, it ruins the human element of baseball and can entirely change the sport forever. 

Robot umpires will completely change the dynamic of the game, especially the role of the catcher. A catcher’s career is built on their ability to “frame” pitches. Framing a pitch occurs when a catcher catches a borderline pitch in a way that presents it as a strike, even if it narrowly missed the strike zone. The implementation of an automated umpire system would render the skill of “framing” as obsolete. Framing has recently become a more valued defensive statistic. 

According to Baseball Savant, the top three framing catchers this season, as of Monday, Sept. 9, are Patrick Bailey (San Francisco Giants), Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners) and Austin Wells (New York Yankees). They each have 15, 11 and 10 framing runs, respectively. Robotic umpires would diminish catcher’s careers by making their role in the game smaller. This would force catchers, arguably the most valuable position on the diamond, to adapt to a new and completely different role. 

Pitchers are also at a huge disadvantage if robotic umpires take over. A major part of pitching is deception. If a pitcher starts the game painting the corners of the strike zone and getting favorable calls, they can slowly begin to move their pitches outside of the strike zone and subsequently widen an umpire’s strike zone. Pitchers can use techniques like these to make calls go their way and control the game. With robotic umpires, pitchers can’t play this essential mind game. 

Additionally, strike calls favoring a pitcher helps them get out of innings quicker, resulting in lower pitch counts. If robotic umpires are overly critical of each pitch, it will increase pitch counts, causing pitchers to either face injury or exit the game earlier than usual. In the case of starting pitchers, exiting a game earlier turns the game over to the bullpen faster. This puts more strain on the team’s bullpen, which could cause more injuries.

Many fans fuss over poor calls by the umpire and their impact on games, however, borderline calls going one way or another is just a part of baseball. With recent advancements in statistics, it’s easy to see how a particular umpire tends to call a game, and it is easy to see what the opposing pitcher has in his arsenal. In pregame shows, commentators have even begun showing “umpire scouting reports” that declare if an umpire is historically known for being more pitcher or hitter-friendly. Teams can now see if an umpire typically gives leeway to pitches just off the plate, high or low. With this knowledge, pitchers and hitters should each plan accordingly and use this to their advantage. With an automated umpire system, this tactical part of the game would simply fall to the wayside. 

Although umpires miss calls here and there, it brings the human element of nuance into the game. Robotic umpires would destroy the dynamic of baseball we know today, consequently changing the game we’ve grown to love.