Image credit: ClutchPoints

Corbin Burnes sends urgent warning to fans, players about robot umps

Originally posted on MLB on ClutchPoints
By Russell Steinberg | Last updated May 19, 2025 1:41 PM ET

The Automated Ball-Strike System, which could come to Major League Baseball as soon as next season, is still imperfect, as Arizona Diamondbacks ace Corbin Burnes has learned.

“There is a margin for error that I think fans don’t realize, that a lot of players didn’t realize,” Burnes said in a story from The Athletic by Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark.

Burnes says there may be a small discrepancy between the actual location of a pitch and where the ABS technology places it. It’s slight, but it’s there — much like when a professional umpire calls a game, occasionally a ball will be called a strike and vice versa.

Burnes was one of four player representatives on the MLB joint competition committee, which discussed that margin for error at a May 1 meeting. He told The Athletic that the discrepancy could be as much as half an inch. It doesn’t sound like much, but if it exists at all, Burnes wonders why MLB should move away from humans, who are imperfect themselves?

“If we can’t get something we feel is 100 percent accurate, why even take the job out of a guy’s hands who has been doing it for 20 years behind the plate?” Burnes asked.

MLB understands Diamondbacks P Corbin Burnes’ concerns

MLB umpire Nic Lentz (59) reacts towards the Houston Astros dugout during the second inning of a game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

ABS is already used in the Minor Leagues and was tested in many spring training ballparks. It seems that the game is moving toward implementing it on a full-time basis, but we’re not there yet.

“We’re now conducting a thorough analysis, including dialogue with players and the competition committee, so that everyone understands what we’re buying into if we choose to do this in the big leagues next season,” Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, told the Athletic.

“As part of that conversation, I think everyone understands that no system is perfect and never will be, but it might be better than what we have now, and that’s the choice,” Sword continued.

The Athletic adds that the question isn’t only whether to implement ABS but also whether to alter the strike zone completely. ABS uses a slightly different zone than the rulebook definition. It’s slightly narrower on the sides, higher on the low end and lower on the top end.

This article first appeared on MLB on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: