Atlanta
CNN
–
The hottest topics in Atlanta ahead of Major League Baseball on Tuesday are not players, coaches and managers.
It’s not even human.
For the first time, Midsummer Classic uses automated technology to enable pitchers, catchers and batters to challenge the ball and strike. This is a system used in minor league and spring training, but has never been placed in front of major league parks.
This is a technology that has the potential to revolutionize the game. This is a system that could forever change one of the most whimsical parts of an incredibly whimsical game. This is a changing, unpredictable strike zone set up by highly human home plate judges.
The pitchers are mostly Zazer, at least before the game progresses.
“I’m not going to use them, I’m probably not going to use them in the future. I’ll let the catchers do that,” said Tarix Cuball, the star of the Detroit Tigers, who will start American League games. “I have this thing I think is all a strike until the judge calls it the ball.”
Paul Skenneth, a Pittsburgh Pirates Fireballmer who starts in the National League, felt much the same.
“The pitcher thinks it’s all a strike, so you go back and see it and it’s going to turn a couple of balls off,” he said Monday. “So we shouldn’t be trying that. I really like the human element of the game, and I think this is one of those things that judges are great until they aren’t.
According to MLB, the challenge system has the same rules as those used in spring training. Each team starts the game with two challenges and maintains the challenge if deemed correct. Only pitchers, catchers and batters can challenge the phone, and when one of those players taps the top of the cap or helmet twice, the system is placed.
The system was placed during the Futures game at Trust Park on Saturday, among some of the game’s top minor league prospects. When the player tries the phone, the game pauses and attention is directed towards the large screens of the stadium.
A virtual simulation of the pitch appears along with the strike zone, and technology rules when the ball falls inside or outside the box. Playing then resumes after a short break.
It is unclear exactly how the league will determine the size of each batter’s strike zone, something Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Clayton Carshaw wants to know.
“I then started doing some rehab. I’m fine with that, you know, I think it works,” he told reporters Monday. “I think all different TV and streaming services across the country have their own boxes, so I don’t really understand how they do boxes for batters, because Judge Aaron and Jose Altuve should have boxes of different sizes.
This phrase was most used on Monday when discussing technology. It is a “human element” that is a symbol of baseball legend.
It is one of the things that can make baseball very completely imperfect. It is an ability that referees simply make mistakes and have a big impact on the game. Jim Joyce, who has dominated abuse to ruin Armand Galalaga’s perfect game bid for a call that transforms Don Deekyah’s World Series in 1985, was safe on a base despite showing that there was no replay. Instead of being the last of the St. Louis Cardinals World Series Championship, the moment became a spark for the Royals to recharge and win the title.
The “human element” is one of the baseball quirks that gives the nation’s entertainment that identifies its identity. But it’s also something that many fans would rather see them get kicked out in obscure way.
Atlanta Braves Pitcher and NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale said he hopes it is still part of the game.
“To be honest, for me, I like the human element, right? Just like they understand why they want to use abs. And I don’t think it’s the perfect system yet,” he said. “I feel old and like the old way of doing it.”
