NEW YORK – Major League Baseball will experiment with robot umpires during spring training in 13 stadiums involving 19 teams, which could lead to their use in the 2026 regular season.
MLB has been testing an automatic ball-and-strike system in the minor leagues since 2019, but is still looking for a way to the strike zone.
An agreement for its use in Major League Baseball must be reached with the Major League Umpire Association, whose collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday after the owners meeting. “I want to have it in 2026.” “We have a collective responsibility there. This is definitely a term and condition of employment. We should also work on this issue.”
Manfred said practicing during spring training needs to be evaluated before MLB decides how to move forward.
“This test has two aspects,” he said. “It’s about what the clubs think about him and also what the players think about him. And we have to analyze both.”
Triple-A ballparks used ABS this year for the second consecutive season, but there is little desire to define the strike zone like the bucket defined in the rule book, and MLB has seen changes in minor league testing.
Currently, ABS calls strikes based solely on the fact that the ball crosses the midpoint of the plate, 8.5 inches from front to back. The top of the strike zone has increased to 53.5% this year from a high of 51%, and the bottom remains at 27%.
After MLB used a split system in which a robot decided the first three games of the series and a human umpire for the last three games in the first two and a half months of the Triple A season, MLB decided to return to those umpires. He will make all decisions on June 25.
In the second half of the season, each team had three in the Pacific Coast League and two in the International League. The team, if successful, retains its challenges, similar to the rules for Major League teams with video review.
“I think we will have ABS testing in spring training, which will provide a significant opportunity for all major league players to see what the system will look like,” Manfred said. “It won’t be in every stadium, but we really have a plan where each team will have a significant impact.”
