Comissioner Rob Manfred Not in Favor of Moving to Electronic Strike Zone
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he is not in favor of switching to an electronic strike zone, according to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.
“The fact of the matter is they get them right well over 90 percent of the time, Manfred reportedly said. "And there is a human aspect to that, a work aspect to it that’s always been an important part of our game. I don’t think you can just jump to the conclusion that if you have [the] technology to do it that’s the right thing for your product.”
Calls for an electronic strike zone have increased in frequency and intensity this season. Despite this, such a sweeping change as removing umpires from the balls and strikes decision is all but impossible without the complete support of the commissioner.
Last week, Cubs outfielder Ben Zobrist discussed a potential switch after he controversially struck out to end a game.
"If we want to change something like that, we're going to have an electronic strike zone because human beings are going to make mistakes," Zobrist said. "Tough situation for that to happen, but he's probably going to look at it and not be too happy with himself.
"That's something the league is going to have to look at, when you start ending games and games turn on one pitch like that. It's an unfortunate situation, and now that we have the technology, we should probably get it right."
The league introduced instant replay and manager challenges in the 2008 season, but balls and strikes are not reviewable.
League-wide strikeout rates have increased in each of the last 12 seasons, and the league is on pace to average 16.46 strikeouts per game, which would be an all-time record.
