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The beginning of a ball game is always exciting. But by the time the ninth inning rolls around, it can start to feel like a slog, as the average major league baseball game lasts more than three hours. That could change with the introduction of “robot umpires” at ball parks around the US, which MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he wants to introduce in the 2024 season.
Robot umpires are officially known as “automated ball-strike systems,” and they’re very similar to the strike zone you see when watching a game through a TV broadcast. The technology isn’t super new — it’s already been debuted in minor league baseball games over the last couple of years. The automated systems track pitches and calls balls and strikes, and it would do it faster and more accurately than human umpires.
But there’s no need to have a large robot looming over the batter and catcher. One option is for human umpires to remain on their typical spots and simply insert an earpiece that transmits the robot’s determination. Another way this could be implemented is by having a “replay review system of balls and strikes with each manager getting several challenges a game,” according to ESPN.
In any case, Manfred told ESPN the implementation of robot umpires isn’t a decree on the performance of human umpires, but it would help speed up ball games. Umpires reportedly take an average of 1 minute and 37 seconds to review video-replays. According to ESPN, MLB data shows that using this tech has cut games by nine minutes in the minor league.
“We have an automated strike zone system that works,” Manfred told ESPN.