White Sox star Joe Kelly wants an automatic strike zone to be implemented as quickly as possible: "As fast as we can get (robot umps) is what I want"
Robot umpires are probably coming to baseball sooner than later, but Chicago White Sox pitcher Joe Kelly wants them as fast as possible. They've been tested at various levels, but MLB has hesitated to add them to the big leagues just yet.
Via TheScore, Kelly was blunt:
"We need them ASAP. I feel like I threw a couple of pitches yesterday that were in the zone that umps definitely missed. It's just at this point with technology where we need everything to be the same."
He continued:
"Baseball is the only sport (without electronic assistance), which I think is great, but I also think it's absolutely s****y for actual records. When you have an automatic strike zone where all of human error is (removed) - as fast as we can get (robot umps) is what I want."
MLB has implemented a few changes ahead of the 2023 season, like a shift ban, bigger bases and a pitch clock. They haven't yet introduced the automatic strike zone, which would be the biggest change to the game yet.
Missing strike calls has been a part of baseball since it was invented, but many players and fans are tired of umpires making poor calls. Many want the robotic umpires to call strikes right now, but the league doesn't feel it's quite ready for such a change.
When will Joe Kelly get his wish about robotic umpires?
At this point, it's safe to assume that Joe Kelly's wish is going to come true at some point. There's no path forward without some sort of fix on the current ball-strike system in play.
Whether it's fully robotic umpires calling it or a mix between human and robot remains to be seen, but it's coming. It probably isn't coming next season, though.
MLB tested the other new rules for a long time before implementing them. While robotic umpires have been in the game for a while at various levels, this kind of change demands a very long trial run.
Eventually, they'll be in the game, but it might be a good long while until that happens.