... for balls and strikes!
Take away my Baseball Purist membership card. The kids no longer will be chased off my lawn about this one. After strongly residing in the “human element” camp for years when it comes to umpires, I finally have come around on the need to soon implement the use of computerized technology — at least at some level — to aid the men in blue in universally enforcing the strike zone.
Local players CC Sabathia and Todd Frazier in the past week became the most recent in a long line of MLBers throughout the game’s history to take on the umps, as the daily discrepancy between what constitutes a strike is nearly approaching “what’s a catch?” levels in the NFL.
CC snapped at repeat offender Angel Hernandez on Sunday night over the ump’s typically erratic zone, exchanging words with Hernandez in the third inning after a close 1-2 pitch to Angels batter Justin Upton was called a ball.
“Don’t talk to me. Call f--king strikes!” Sabathia appeared to yell at Hernandez after retiring Upton for the final out of the inning.
Sabathia bit his lip and declined to call out Hernandez further after that game, but Frazier was far more expansive in his criticism of the men in blue following the Mets’ loss to Atlanta on Wednesday night.
“Something has to be done. The more we talk about it, the more frustrating it’s getting,” Frazier said. “We lost fair and square; the kid (Atlanta starter Sean Newcomb) pitched a hell of a game. But the umpires have to get better plain and simple.
“Around the league, it’s been going on for years, but this year has been worse for me.”
Frazier, who claimed to have aired his grievances privately with the umpiring crew in San Diego last weekend, added there is “no accountability” when it comes to the umps and called for a meeting with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred or “anyone in MLB” to further discuss the strike zone.
The safer bet is Frazier more likely faces a fine for going public with such criticism. Manfred said late last year that computerized technology wasn’t ready for implementation anyway, but former player and current MLB Network analyst Eric Byrnes has been among the most staunch advocates of using whatever information already is available to help the umps now.
“Look, man, I’m beating the drum over and over and over again, and guess what, I’m gonna continue beating the drum until all of a sudden the same information I’m allowed 3,000 miles away from where the game is being played, you’ve got to give it to the home-plate umpire,” Byrnes said last week on “High Heat.” “Why are we taking this information and we’re giving it to everybody except for the only guy who needs it? The home-plate umpire.
“Again I’m not looking to replace umpires with robots; that has nothing to do with it. Just give that guy the same information that everybody else has. We put a man on the moon 50 years ago and here we are using this archaic system still to call balls and strikes. It’s ridiculous.”
Look, MLB already has shown a willingness to tinker with the game’s traditions: adding additional playoff rounds, interleague play, video reviews, home-plate collision rules, as well as various changes in an attempt to speed up the game. (I’m also a fairly recent advocate for the National League to eventually adopt the designated hitter — with Jacob deGrom’s hyperextended elbow on a swing-and-miss on Wednesday night the latest example why.)
Using some form of computer technology on balls and strikes should be the next logical step in the continued evolution of the game.
Yes, umps are people, too, and last August they collectively pushed back against what they termed “abusive behavior” by players and managers by wearing white wristbands in protest as a sign of unity.
Still, Statcast data from Wednesday night showed that home-plate ump Lance Barrett called two pitches out of the zone as strikes against Frazier. According to Statcast, the Yankees this season actually lead MLB with 167 incorrect calls against them, with the Mets ranking 22nd with 107 missed calls.
If those numbers can be significantly reduced via an advancement in technology, why not utilize it?
“The human element is the players. It has and always will be the players,” Byrnes said last week. “We see the human element on a nightly basis . ... But every single pitch is determining the outcome of the game. The delta in OPS between a 1-1 count and 1-2 count or a 2-1 count is like .400 points. In a game that’s all based on statistics, we’re being irresponsible by not implementing it. It’s as simple as that.”
Embracing change is not so simple. But my lawn is now open if anyone wants to run on it.