The game of baseball seems to be trending toward a new era that includes robot umpires. Robot umps are being tested during spring training and they have also been implemented in the minor leagues. A lot of fans and players are in favor of this move, but Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer is not.
Max Scherzer has expressed his opinion regarding robot umps before, and he did it again during an appearance on The Athletic’s Windup Podcast. Scherzer looks back at the playoffs last year and wonders what there is to fix.
“Think about the postseason last year,” Scherzer said. “Are we really talking about (any controversies that) happened with the home plate umpires and strikes and balls? Is there anything that was really going on in that postseason? I don’t think so. So what problem are we really solving?”
Scherzer is a fan of the current challenge system, but he does wonder if there are some better options.
“If you said, ‘Do we like the challenge system versus the status quo?’ Yes,” Scherzer said. “But do we like the challenge system versus maybe some other options here? That’s where I’m kind of skeptical.”
Technology is in a place that we have never seen before, and it is a huge part of today’s era of sports. Scherzer wants to see it used in the best way possible.
“I just think there are two other ways to use the technology,” Scherzer added. “Look, the technology, the way we can measure this, it’s great. So how can we use it in a way that minimizes its impact in the game?”
It’s clear that Scherzer wants to keep human refs in the game, but he isn’t against some changes being made.
“We just want the game to stay the exact same,” Scherzer said. “So my first (idea) would be to say, hey, just grade the umpires. Look, most of the umpires are really good. And 99 percent of the time they’re getting the calls right. So (we should just be using ABS for) cutting down on the egregious calls overall as an industry. … We want the best umpires in the game,” Scherzer added. “I don’t think that’s a problem of having humans be judged by humans. We just want to make sure that the best ones are there doing it.”
Scherzer has some ideas for how things can improve without taking away the umpires.
“Introduce a buffer zone, maybe, around the challenge system,” he said. “So if you challenge and it’s in the buffer, the call stands. So you keep the human element still with the umpire. (And) you’re just trying to get rid of the egregious calls. … We’re going to change our human behavior, because now we’ve changed how we call balls and strikes,” Scherzer said. “So that’s kind of the things I think about, when you start taking away the human element of, ‘Hey, is it a quarter-inch here or there?’ So (to fix) some problems, are you going to be creating new problems to solve that quarter-inch conundrum that you’re talking about?”
Max Scherzer does have some good ideas, but he might not get his way. It’s unclear what the future looks like in the league, but it does seem like robot umps are becoming more likely.
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