Before considering implementing them in the big leagues, Major League Baseball will use an independent baseball league to test the use of robotic umpires, an official told USA TODAY Sports.
Though the specifics have not been revealed, MLB announced a three-year agreement with the Atlantic League that will let the league “observe the effects of potential future rule changes and equipment.”
As part of the agreement, pitch-tracking technology which could allow the independent league to experiment with robo-umpires calling balls and strikes will be installed at Atlantic League ballparks.
Last year, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Athletic that robotic strike zones were becoming increasingly accurate.
“I think we are much closer than we were a year ago to having the technological capability to actually call the strike zone,” Manfred told the publication. “We have worked very hard on PITCHf/x (a pitch-tracking system). The accuracy is way up — way better than what it was a year ago. The technology continues to move . . . and it actually moved a little faster than I might have thought.”
Manfred did say that owners and players were going to face a tough choice about allowing robots to take away the home plate umpire’s control over the strike zone and the game in the future.
Turns out that decision might be coming a little sooner than expected.
In other MLB news, baseball will not be implementing a pitch clock in the big leagues until at least 2020, according to reports.
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