Major League Baseball is moving toward acceptance of a robotically called strike zone in the years to come. Despite this, the proposal is not universally popular among players.
Count New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge among those skeptical of the prospect. After Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox, Judge questioned why the league could not simply improve its existing group of umpires instead.
The topic of robot umpires was a relevant one after the Yankees’ loss to Boston. Manager Aaron Boone was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, and he was furious over low strikes consistently being called against Judge. Boone and Judge had a beef, as replays showed Judge was called out on a third strike that was essentially at his shins in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Judge’s response is sporting, but calls like that are the reason robot umpires are coming sooner rather than later. He’ll just have to get used to that inevitability, and maybe it will ultimately help him.
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