The days of umpires having their own strike zone are over, clearly.
The Age of ABS is upon us, folks, and we’ve already seen it deployed several times over the first two days of the Major League Baseball season.
And, frankly, I’m not sure where I stand yet.
On one hand, umpires need to be held accountable for an especially egregious call. I’ve said that for years now. I believe it in my bones.
On the other hand … is it really necessary to overturn pitches that are literally a millimeter off the plate? Eh. That’s a tricky one. Technically, the answer is yes. The technology exists to correct these calls, and we either have to be all in, or all the way out.
But you also have moments like this in Friday night’s Royals-Braves game, where Salvador Perez taught home plate umpire Doug Eddigs a tough lesson about the technical strike zone:
Umpires now have to adjust, not the hitters
Thoughts? First impressions?
Eh. I don’t know. That’s just baseball to me. That’s just Doug Eddings creating a strike zone. Clearly, he’s not calling the low strike. They’re all borderline. For some umps, it’s a strike all day. For others, it’s not.
However, it’s a tough look for Eddings, and I’m not sure where to land on this one. Part of me wants to side with the ump, and I HATE siding with umps. But come on.
All of those pitches are borderline. Eddings called them all the same way, to be fair.
There’s an old adage in baseball. “All we ask for is consistency.” That’s what we want, right? If it’s a ball in the first inning, it needs to be a ball all game. Same with a strike, obviously. Just give us the zone, and make it the same zone all night long.
Umpires get in trouble when they switch zones every inning. That’s when managers and players end up getting ejected, and I don’t blame them. But Eddings called every one of those pitches a ball. According to the robots on the scoreboard, he was 0 for 3.
But at least he kept his zone, right? Again, it’s what we were taught growing up. Any baseball player worth his salt will tell you the same thing. We’ve all heard the speech from our coach when we’re arguing balls and strikes, right?
“Quit arguing, it’s been a strike all day, swing the bat.”
It’s the same argument I used in the WBC a few weeks back when the Domincan Republic lost on the infamous strike three call.
It was low. It was a ball. BUT, it was called a strike down there all night long.
It’s on the player in that spot to swing the bat, especially with two strikes. I don’t fault the umpire for that. I fault the player.
I think it’s the same here. Sure, Eddings whiffed on all three pitches. He looked goofy because the whole stadium saw it. Perhaps it’s on him to adjust to the robots now.
For decades, hitters had to adjust to an umpire’s strike zone. The tables, clearly, have turned.
And I’m still not sure if it’s a good thing.
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