NEW YORK — Robot umpires are closer to breaking through the major leagues than you think, and at least one MLB player has strong opinions about its rollout.
After implementing the automated balls and strikes (ABS) system throughout spring training games earlier this year, MLB officials will bring the feature to next week’s All-Star Game, according to an ESPN report. Using the ABS system in the Midsummer Classic is viewed as a precursor to permanently bringing the so-called robot umps to the major leagues as soon as next year.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Rather than a fully operational automated strike zone or the current process of umpires making calls without technology, players in the All-Star Game will receive a set number of challenges with the ability to retain them if successful. Only a pitcher, hitter, or catcher can ask for a challenge by tapping his hat or helmet. Any help from the dugout or players on the field is not allowed.
New York Yankees closer Devin Williams didn’t mince words about how he felt regarding the introduction of the ABS system.
“They’re going to do whatever they want,” Williams said, referring to the league. “Regardless of what we say.”
What are players saying about the ABS system?
“It’s good and bad,” Williams said. “Everything comes with pros and cons. I think hitters won’t like it as much as they think they do because, watch any game, how many balls nick the zone? Or hit the zone, but they’re caught poorly, or miss location, set up inside, throw it outside. Because of that reason, it’s called a ball. But it’s actually a strike. There are a lot of those pitches.”
Williams then explained a hypothetical situation where he throws a pitch and it nicks the zone. Instead of the count being 2-2, he’ll challenge the pitch, which looked more outside than it actually was, because the catcher did a poor job framing it. The ABS challenge system will then confirm it was a strike.
“And then the hitter is pissed,” Williams said. “Because that’s not the game that we play. It’s all about presentation. So, I’m saying, if it’s more of a true zone, then I don’t think the hitters are going to like it as much as they think that they will. See, look at what just happened.”
Williams pointed to the Dodgers-Brewers game being played on one of the television screens in the Yankees clubhouse.
“The pitcher just walked him even though he threw a strike and hit his spot,” Williams said. “It just happened right there. I watched the run that the Dodgers scored, and then Shohei (Ohtani) was walked with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. Two of the four balls technically hit the zone, but they weren’t called strikes.”
Williams was right. Here’s the at-bat he was talking about.
Even though Williams, a pitcher, was making the case that hitters won’t benefit from the ABS system as much as it will help out pitchers, he still prefers that the league weighs all player opinions before implementing a new process. The Yankees closer is not convinced that player opinions make a difference when it comes to new processes and features, whether it be robot umps or the pitch clock.
“They’re going to do whatever they want,” Williams said again. “We don’t have any power. Just do whatever they say.”
Williams was adamantly against the pitch clock when it was first implemented in the major leagues in 2023, and he said pitchers still complain about it “all the time” two years later. Williams said that he, and others, were open about their reluctance, and it was approved by MLB’s competition committee, anyway. The committee includes six owners, four players and one umpire. It was created as a part of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in 2022.
“They’re just doing stuff to do stuff,” Williams said. “The people that come up with all these rules, they don’t play the game, obviously.”
What about what the MLBPA has to say?
“We have a vote, but they have the majority of the votes,” Williams said, again referring to the league. “So they just do whatever they want anyway. I love how (the competition committee) is framed that way, like we have a say, but they just go ahead with what they want to do anyway. Pretty sure players voted against the pitch clock. But then they (the league) was like, ‘Oh too bad, we outvoted you guys.’ And now we have the pitch clock.”
Before putting on his cleats and heading out onto the field to play catch, Williams repeated that he simply has no other choice but to “do whatever they say.”
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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