Catchers wary of looming robo umps amid rules changes
Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais spent parts of 11 seasons and nearly 800 games behind home plate as a catcher with four franchises, mostly in the 1990s.
During that era — one dominated by Hall of Famers Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez — the skills needed at backstop were clearly defined.
“Could you throw guys out, how did you do blocking the ball and could you hit with power?” Servais said. “That’s how the position was evaluated.”
A generation later, those attributes have been joined by a more subtle but equally significant skill: pitch framing. During baseball’s data revolution, the fine art of making borderline pitches look like strikes was found to be a game-changing craft — one that could be as impactful as Piazza’s power or Rodriguez’s arm.
The calculus, though, could be about to change, along with an equation that’s included the human element for nearly 150 years.
While pitch clocks, bigger bases and other rules changes debut this year at the major league level, the Automated Ball-strike System will receive its biggest experiment yet at Triple-a. ABS will be used four days per week to call every pitch at baseball’s highest minor league level. On the other three days, umpires will traditionally call balls and strikes with a challenge system in place — teams will be able to appeal a handful of calls to the so-called robo-zone each game.
To many, ABS has begun to feel inevitable. Umpires have already agreed to allow it at the major league level when it is ready. Which means that within a season or two, everything around home plate could change.
“It’s going to be here,” Servais said.
Others think Major League Baseball, and specifically Commissioner Rob Manfred, don’t recognize how seismically such a shift could alter the sport.
“I don’t see it happening,” said Yankees All-star and distinguished pitchframer Jose Trevino. “I don’t think Manfred has any idea what’s going on whenever he talks about that kind of stuff. He’s obviously never put the gear on, so he doesn’t know.”