More changes are coming to baseball *and the crowd goes mild*.
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Rob Manfred dove into future plans for the league, including some of the major rule changes that are likely.
Perhaps the most prominent proposed change is so-called robo-umps, in an effort to cut down on some of the more egregious missed calls, as evidenced well by accounts like UmpScorecards, which track umpire performance.
Manfred told Van Natta Jr. that he, “fully supports revamping the game with pitch clocks, the elimination of the shift and, in 2024, some form of robo-umpire.”
Here’s what that could look like:
“One possibility is for the automated system to call every pitch and transmit the balls and strikes to a home plate umpire via an ear piece,” Van Natta Jr. wrote. “Another option is a replay review system of balls and strikes with each manager getting several challenges a game.”
Pitch clocks, no shifting (at least in its current form) and some empirical assessment of the strike zone appear to be coming to baseball sooner, rather than later.
Manfred, whose contract expires after the 2024 season, told Van Natta Jr. he’s aware of how much disdain there is for him, but said he does not hate baseball. He believes these changes are necessary to improve the game and help it grow. Read the full story here.