{"id":691687,"date":"2025-09-24T09:45:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T06:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T09:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T06:45:22","slug":"robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Robot umpires are coming to MLB. Here&#8217;s how they work"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3a1e9823cb1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3a1e9823cb1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/#How_does_the_Automated_Ball-Strike_System_work\" >How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/#What_is_the_technology\" >What is the technology?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/#So_what_is_the_MLB_strike_zone\" >So what is the MLB strike zone?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/#Where_has_ABS_been_tested\" >Where has ABS been tested?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/robot-umpires-are-coming-to-mlb-heres-how-they-work\/#How_successful_are_teams_at_challenging\" >How successful are teams at challenging?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"A Trackman device used for the Automated Ball-Strike System is posted on the balcony behind home plate before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Phoenix. Credit: AP Photo\/Ashley Landis, file\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi.jpg\" alt=\"Robot umpires are coming to MLB. Here's how they work\" title=\"A Trackman device used for the Automated Ball-Strike System is posted on the balcony behind home plate before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Phoenix. Credit: AP Photo\/Ashley Landis, file\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                A Trackman device used for the Automated Ball-Strike System is posted on the balcony behind home plate before a spring training baseball <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> between the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Phoenix. Credit: AP Photo\/Ashley Landis, file<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Robot umpires are coming to the big leagues in 2026 after Major League Baseball&#8217;s 11-man competition committee on Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roved use of the Automated Ball\/Strike System.<\/p>\n<p>ABS will be introduced in the form of a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each call, which can be appealed to the computer. Robot umpires have been tested in the minor leagues since 2019, with recent testing done at <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trip<\/a>le-A since 2022, MLB spring training this year and at this summer&#8217;s All-Star Game in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what to know about MLB&#8217;s robot umps.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_the_Automated_Ball-Strike_System_work\"><\/span>How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Stadiums are outfitted with cameras that track each pitch and judge whether it crossed home plate within the strike zone. In early testing, umpires wore ear buds and would hear &#8220;ball&#8221; or &#8220;strike,&#8221; then relay that to players and fans with traditional hand signals.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge system adds a wrinkle. Human umps call every pitch, but each team has the ability to challenge two calls per game. Teams that burn their challenges get one additional challenge in each extra inning. A team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for big league teams with video reviews, which were first used for home run calls in August 2008 and widely expanded to many calls for the 2014 season.<\/p>\n<p>Only a batter, pitcher or catcher may challenge a call, signaling with the tap of a helmet or cap; and assistance from the dugout is not allowed. A challenge must be made within 2 seconds, and the graphic of the pitch and strike zone is shown on the scoreboard and broadcast feed. The umpire then announces the updated count.<\/p>\n<p>MLB estimates the process averages 17 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                        <!-- TechX - News - In-article --><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_technology\"><\/span>What is the technology?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A Hawk-Eye pose-tracking system of cameras tracks pitches and whether they are within a strike zone based on the height of each batter, who is measured without shoes before a team&#8217;s first test game. MLB estimated the calibration process at less than one minute for each player.<\/p>\n<p>While the strike zone actually called by big league umpires tends to be oval in shape, the ABS strike zone is a rectangle, as in the rule book.<\/p>\n<p>Developing a consensus on what a computer strike zone should be has been an issue.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"An outfield screen shows a graphic indicating Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez challenged a pitch call, initiating a review with the automated ball-strike challenge system, in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training baseball game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Peoria, Ariz. Credit: AP Photo\/Lindsey Wasson, file\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi-1.jpg\" alt=\"Robot umpires are coming to MLB. Here's how they work\" title=\"An outfield screen shows a graphic indicating Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez challenged a pitch call, initiating a review with the automated ball-strike challenge system, in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training baseball game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Peoria, Ariz. Credit: AP Photo\/Lindsey Wasson, file\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                An outfield screen shows a graphic indicating Seattle Mariners&#8217; Julio Rodriguez challenged a pitch call, initiating a review with the automated ball-strike challenge system, in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training baseball game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Peoria, Ariz. Credit: AP Photo\/Lindsey Wasson, file<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_what_is_the_MLB_strike_zone\"><\/span>So what is the MLB strike zone?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>MLB has changed the shape of the ABS strike zone several times.<\/p>\n<p>It started with a 19-inch width in 2022, then dropped it to 17 inches\u2014matching the width of home plate. Narrowing the strike zone led to an increase in walks and only small changes in strikeout rates.<\/p>\n<p>The top of the strike zone was 51% of a batter&#8217;s height in 2022 and 2023, then raised to 53.5% in 2024 after pitchers complained. The bottom of the strike zone has been 27% since 2022 after initially being set at 28%. A batter&#8217;s stance is not taken into account.<\/p>\n<p>ABS makes the ball\/strike decision at the midpoint of the plate, 8 1\/2 inches from the front and 8 1\/2 inches from the back. The contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube and a strike is a pitch that crosses any part. Big league umpires call roughly 94% of pitches correctly, according to UmpScorecards.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_has_ABS_been_tested\"><\/span>Where has ABS been tested?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>ABS, which utilizes Hawk-Eye cameras, has been tested in the minor leagues since 2019. The independent Atlantic League trialed the system at its 2019 All-Star Game and MLB installed the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> for that&#8217;s year Arizona Fall League of top prospects. The ABS was tried at eight of nine ballparks of the Low-A Southeast League in 2021, then moved up to Triple-A in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>At Triple-A at the start of the 2023 season, half the games used the robots for ball\/strike calls and half had a human making decisions subject to appeals by teams to the ABS.<\/p>\n<p>MLB switched Triple-A to an all-challenge system on June 26, 2024, then used the challenge system this year at 13 spring training ballparks hosting 19 teams for a total of 288 exhibition games. Teams won 52.2% of their ball\/strike challenges (617 of 1,182) challenges.<\/p>\n<p>At this year&#8217;s MLB All-Star Game, four of five challenges of plate umpire Dan Iassogna&#8217;s calls were successful.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_successful_are_teams_at_challenging\"><\/span>How successful are teams at challenging?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Success rate have hovered around 50% in the minors. At Triple-A this season, the success rate dropped to 49.5% from 50.6%. Defenses\u2014usually catchers\u2014have been more successful, winning 53.7% of challenges compared to 45% by batters. Challenges increased to 4.2 from 3.9 per game through Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>in 2024 at Triple-A, just 1.6% of first pitches were challenges, but the figure increased to 3.9% for two-strike pitches, 5.2% for three-ball pitches and 8.2% for full counts.<\/p>\n<p>Challenge percentages were higher later in the game. While 1.9% of pitches were challenged in the first three innings, 2.5% were challenged from the fourth through the sixth, 2.8% in the seventh and eighth and 3.6% in the ninth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n                                                \u00a9 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n                                                <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                Robot umpires are coming to MLB. Here&#8217;s how they work (2025, September 23)<br \/>\n                                                retrieved 24 September 2025<br \/>\n                                                from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-09-robot-umpires-mlb.html\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n                                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2025-09-robot-umpires-mlb.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Trackman device used for the Automated Ball-Strike System is posted on the balcony behind home plate before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Phoenix. Credit: AP Photo\/Ashley Landis, file Robot umpires are coming to the big leagues in 2026 after&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":691688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/robot-umpires-are-comi.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-691687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}