Major League Baseball (MLB) is constantly changing various regulations. This season, pitch clocks, shift limits, and base size expansions have been introduced, resulting in a much faster game tempo. Although the number of hits and stolen bases increased and the number of runs increased, the time it took for the pitcher to throw the ball decreased, reducing game time by more than 20 minutes.
The end of the rule change is expected to메이저사이트 be the automatic judgment of strikes and balls. Prior to the start of the 2023 season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed his intention to implement automatic strike and ball decisions within the next few years. For the past few years, MLB has been piloting automatic strike and ball decisions in the minor leagues and fall leagues, starting with independent leagues. A precisely designed machine judges the strike and the ball, and the referee delivers the ball as it is judged by the machine.
Korea is also conducting a pilot operation in the Futures League and amateur stages. The first high school national tournament this year, which ended on the 11th, implemented automatic strike and ball judgment at Shinsegae E-Mart. High school coaches predict that although they cannot be said to be perfect yet, they can replace referees with steady improvement.
There are also positions that have to adapt to inevitable changes with automatic strike and ball judgment. The catcher receives the ball from the pitcher throughout the game. This is especially true of catchers with excellent framing ability who catch the pitcher’s ball as if it had entered the strike zone. A catcher with good framing makes strikes out of dozens of balls that could become balls in a season. However, once the automatic judgment of strikes and balls is established, the catcher’s framing ability becomes meaningless.
The catcher with the best framing in the KBO league is Lotte Yoo Kang-nam. His catching ability is exceptional enough to change the flow of the game through framing. He has an exceptional talent for striking difficult balls across border lines. He gets countless strike calls with his natural catch.
And, of course, from Kangnam Yoo’s point of view, the automatic judgment of strikes and balls is inevitably regrettable. On the 11th, ahead of the resignation LG match, Yoo Gang-nam said about the automatic strike and ball judgment, “If it is introduced, I think the charm of baseball will be a little less. Framing is also one of the fun of baseball, but I personally think that the charm will be lost.”
It is unknown when automatic strike and ball judgment will be introduced in the KBO League. First of all, the KBO is carefully looking at the changes in MLB and contemplating the timing of introduction. The pitch clock, shift restrictions, and base size expansions that have been implemented this season can be implemented in the KBO league within a few years. The same goes for automatic strike and ball judgment. Seeing how MLB introduced automatic strike and ball judgment, KBO will also confirm whether to introduce it when there are no technical problems.
Meanwhile, MLB is contemplating the automatic strike and ball judgment in two ways. Leaving the entire judgment to the machine, as is currently being piloted. And, as before, the referee judges strikes and balls, but through the video review system, the decision can be overturned, and the reference point is the machine judgment.