Off base

Robot umpires? Pitch clocks? Jays players cry foul Wilner,

Major League Baseball is planning on bringing in some major rule changes over the next couple of years, and Blue Jays players don’t seem to be big fans.

In an interview with Don Van Natta Jr. published on ESPN’s website, commissioner Rob Manfred said he fully supports eliminating the defensive shift, putting in a pitch clock and going to some form of robot umpire in the near future.

The pitch clock is currently being used in all full-season minor leagues. A pitcher gets 14 seconds between pitches with the bases empty, 18 or 19 (depending on the level) with runners on base. A violation results in a ball being called. The hitter must be set in the batter’s box, looking at the pitcher, within nine seconds or a strike is called.

When asked what he thought of the clock, centre-fielder George Springer didn’t seem impressed.

“I don’t know about that one,” said the 2017 World Series MVP. “I feel like I deserve a second to think. I’m facing one of the best guys in the world, you want me to make an out because I don’t have time to think? I don’t know. I’m sure it’s not as bad as it sounds, but I don’t know.”

Cavan Biggio does know, because he had to deal with the pitch clock while he was in Triple-A Buffalo in May.

“I’m totally against it,” said Biggio, “I’m totally against changing the game at all. (The pitch clock) definitely made the games faster, but it’s a different game. The process is different. Guys foul (a pitch) off, especially in a big situation, they kind of walk around a bit. Even if it’s not that much time, you can’t do that with the pitch clock. If they’re going to do a pitch clock up here, you’d have to at least double that time.”

Reliever Trent Thornton, who spent a good part of May in Buffalo, believes the pitch clock works well in the minors, but agrees that it would have to be changed in the majors.

“Every pitch means that much more (in the bigs),” said Thornton. “The biggest thing for a pitcher is to be able to slow the game down, because as soon as it speeds up that’s when things spiral. (The pitch clock) just changes the game completely to where as a pitcher you want to slow the game down, (check your) breathing, all of those little things that are big differencemakers.”

An electronic strike zone, either for every pitch or through a challenge system, is something that would clean up the messy ballstrike calling that seems to be getting worse every year. You would think it’s something hitters would want.

“I’d rather have the umpires,” said two-time Silver Slugger Teoscar Hernández. “If they miss a call, they miss a call, but I don’t want to have a robot in there. If (the electronic strike zone) misses a call, then I’ll get even more mad.”

OK, so then you would think it’s something pitchers would want, getting every call right, right?

“I don’t want an electronic strike zone,” said starter Kevin Gausman, who threw seven shutout innings at the Boston Red Sox on Monday night with a human calling the balls and strikes. “I think pitchers would probably benefit from it, but I think it takes out that human element of the game. The umpires have been as much a part of the game of baseball as the players for as long as it has been around.” Springer is on the fence a little bit. “As a hitter, you want every ball that’s supposed to be a ball to be called a ball,” he said. “(but) I think there’s a human element to baseball, to sports in general. I think umpires are really, really good at what they do, so I don’t know what to think.”

“I think it’s important to get as many calls as we can right,” said shortstop Bo Bichette.

But he, too, has a concern about the electronic strike zone.

“I don’t think (getting every call right) should come at the price of making the game a lot longer. I think there’s a problem with (replay) challenges now. They take a lot longer than they probably should. So, I can’t imagine the same wouldn’t happen with balls and strikes.”

Fair enough. One would hope that if there’s a challenge system for balls and strikes, the answer would be instantaneous, like in/out challenges in tennis. Then again, if the goal is to get as many calls correct as possible, the system would ideally be in place for every pitch, without putting in the strategic element of a challenge.

Biggio, who has one of the best eyes at the plate in the game, also came out strongly against robot umpires, even though he’d get a massive benefit.

“It’s not about me, though,” said Biggio, “it’s about the game of baseball. Look at our players’ association, where we’ve sacrificed so much for not just the individual player, it’s for everybody. In my eyes, I don’t think that would be the best for every single player. Mainly the catchers.”

After all, with an electronic strike zone in place, pitch framing becomes irrelevant.

“You might as well just go put a bucket back there and (have the catcher) sit on the bucket,” said Springer. “You don’t really have to do much except catch the ball.

“I would ask to sit on a bucket. It might make your legs feel better.”