AgRyan04 said:

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Have the players been wrong on any challenge tonight?

FORGET CHALLENGES! BRING ON ABS FOR EVERY PITCH!

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May have been a "might as well challenge" scenario but Stowers challenged a called 3rd strike and lost.

Good call, I forgot that one

So they were what 7 out of 8?

I've wanted robo umps for years. Anything to make games feel honest. I feel the same way for all sports

I use this pitch as an example. This pitch was a ball. However, with the shape of the pitch and the way it couldn't be received well by Pierzynski, the pitch really wasn't that far off the zone when it crossed the front edge of the plate. With ABS you'd have pitches of this type that are diving down and away and nicking the zone before they land in the dirt being called strikes. Hitters will lose their minds. Hitting is hard enough as it is.

IMO those types of pitches will be the equivalent of the play where the baserunner is safe by a mile and nobody is faulting the safe call but he might have popped off the bag one millimeter so we have to stop and look at it.

I miss that ballpark.

Same. AC is nice but the new one doesn't capture one iota of the charm of the old one.

In an All ABS scenario, we wouldn't have to even stop to take a look at it....it'll flash up on the screen as quickly as it does with the umpire....and if it was a strike it'll be a strike and if it's a ball it'll be a ball

CampingAg said:

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I use this pitch as an example. This pitch was a ball. However, with the shape of the pitch and the way it couldn't be received well by Pierzynski, the pitch really wasn't that far off the zone when it crossed the front edge of the plate. With ABS you'd have pitches of this type that are diving down and away and nicking the zone before they land in the dirt being called strikes. Hitters will lose their minds. Hitting is hard enough as it is.

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Just FYI, ABS isn't calling it from the front of the plate or in a 3-D zone. ABS is calling it from the mid-point of the plate (8 1/2" back from the front of the plate).

But your overall point stands that ABS will call some pitches we normally think of as balls as strikes and that will be an adjustment for players and fans.

Interesting. Did not know that. I do think ABS is better than a challenge system. The fewer game stop downs the better. I am not an IT guy by any means, and I wonder how they are going to program the top and bottom of the zones, the definitions of which are so vaguely worded. "An area below the hollow of the knee". How do you program that (not that humans get it 100% right either).

It is based on the player's individual physical measurements

"Like the plate, it is 17-inches wide. The top end of the zone is at 53.5% of the player's height, while the bottom is at 27% of the player's height. The depth of the zone is 8.5 inches from both the front and back of the plate."

www.mlb.com/amp/news/automated-ball-strike-calls-mlb-spring-games.html

AgRyan04 said:

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It is based on the player's individual physical measurements

"Like the plate, it is 17-inches wide. The top end of the zone is at 53.5% of the player's height, while the bottom is at 27% of the player's height. The depth of the zone is 8.5 inches from both the front and back of the plate."

www.mlb.com/amp/news/automated-ball-strike-calls-mlb-spring-games.html

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Just adding to this for clarity that it is players standing height without shoes (like a measurement at the Dr's office). It is NOT based on batting stance height like how a strike is defined in the rule book currently.

An absolutely dumbfounding call pic.twitter.com/8VihXC0AXa

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 29, 2025