Will Major League Baseball ever see the day that an automated strike zone replaces an umpire behind the plate? Anything's possible, but the prospect still feels like it's a long way from happening.
In the meantime, a former major leaguer, Eric Byrnes, is creating some noise for PITCHf/x, a three-camera tracking system, to determine a independent-league baseball game's balls and strikes Tuesday night in San Rafael, CA. According to Wired, it's the first time a professional baseball game has been called without an umpire.
PITCHf/x, which is designed by Sportvision, is already being used in all MLB ball parks to collect pitch speed, location and movement data — but it had never been used to solely determine a game's balls and strikes the way Byrnes set it up to do Tuesday night. Since the Pacific Association is an independent league outside of the MLB's jurisdiction, Byrnes thought it'd be a good opening to test it out.
So, how did it fare? Byrnes called it an "awesome success" on his Instagram page. He just wishes automated strikezones would replace umpires permanently and in the MLB.
"To think that games on a daily basis will continue to be manipulated by human error when this technology is available is an absolute shame," Byrnes said on his IG account. "I realize many people are hesitant to change but this is a change that will undoubtedly better the greatest game in the world for generations to come."
Although the system fared well Tuesday night, it's not made to call balls and strikes. Proof of that is a blind spot in front of home plate, where the camera stops tracking the ball and analyzes its end trajectory — leaving people in baseball's sabermetrics community not feeling confident of its long-term use for calling balls and strikes.
But Sportvision has stuck by its claim that PITCHf/x should only be used to collect pitch speed, location and movement data. Sportivision is the same California-based company that debuted the yellow first-down marker seen during football broadcasts.
Installed in all 30 major league ball parks, PITCHf/x data can be used after games to help review an umpire's performance... just not replace them, at least yet.
