The robots are coming in 2026. Cal Raleigh is not thrilled.
Major League Baseball announced this week that the Automated Ball/Strike System would be coming to the majors next season after it had been used in the minors since 2019. Major League Baseball’s 11-man competition committee approved use of the system.
Its adoption to be used in the majors was inevitable, especially after being tested out during spring training back in February and March. It was also used during the All-Star Game in July.
Still, that doesn’t mean everyone is on board, especially some catchers.
“I’m not a fan of it. I’ve said it before, just some parts of the game I think you don’t mess with, but it is what it is,” Raleigh said. “I get it from the fans’ sake and bringing that excitement to it. I understand it from the fan perspective them wanting to implement that.”
But what about as a catcher? And one that is regarded as one of the best pitch receivers in the game? And one that earned a Platinum Glove last season?
“I think (San Francisco’s) Patrick Bailey already talked about it a little bit just diminishing the position a little bit, a position that’s already diminished as it is. And, you know, I wouldn’t say diminished, I’d say undervalued. You just take another thing away from catchers. And you just hate to see that part of the game go away a little bit,” Raleigh said.
To be fair, there is still going to be a significant amount of responsibility on catchers for their framing and receiving. Umpires are still going to be responsible for calling the 300 or so pitches typically thrown in a game. The ABS system, which uses Hawk-Eye cameras, will be on a challenge system with teams only receiving two challenges per game, with extra challenges available in extra innings.
Raleigh was one of four players on the competition committee, according to the Associated Press. The other three players were Austin Slater of the New York Yankees and Arizona teammates Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen, with Detroit’s Casey Mize and the Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ as alternates.
Slater told reporters that three of the four players voted in favor after receiving support from 22 of 30 teams in the league.
Where Raleigh and fellow M’s catcher Mitch Garver hopes the system will be a benefit is the egregious calls – the time umpires whiff and call an obvious ball a strike or vice versa.
“I don’t think it changes much. A lot of the umpires are pretty good when it comes to egregious out -of -zone misses, and it’s going to be really hard for a lot of batters to understand what the strike zone is,” Garver said. “We saw it in spring training a little bit. You know when a ball is called a strike and when a strike is called a ball, for the most part. I think the hardest part is going to be keeping pitchers from challenging too many.”
And therein lies some of the strategy that will come from having the system in place. Is everyone free to challenge? Is it only catchers that can make that decision? What about batters that are insistent they know the strike zone and want that freedom?
“Sometimes when you catch the ball and you move it so fast into the zone, you really receive it well, like Cal does, you trick them,” Garver said going back to the pitchers. “So you know, Bryce Miller, for example thinks he throws nothing but strikes, just because Cal catches it so good. So it’s going to be like, ‘hey Bryce, we’re going to take your challenges away.’ ”
Jokes aside, there are still a lot of questions about how the implementation will happen. Raleigh is curious how the strike zone will be tailored to the different heights of players. He didn’t feel like there was enough opportunity in spring training to test it out.
“It’s going to be interesting to see, that’s for sure,” Raleigh said.