Columbus Clippers to use electronic strike zone in 2023 Triple-A season, per report

The 2023 baseball season will be adding a new wrinkle to the Columbus Clippers and all other Triple-A teams across the country.

According to ESPN, an electronic strike zone will be implemented by all Triple-A teams starting this spring with teams using one of two different iterations of the Automatic Balls and Strikes system.

Half of Triple-A games will be called solely determined by an electronic strike zone, which debuted in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in May. According to a report by The Athletic, the electronic strike zone extends 19 inches wide at the middle of home plate, adding an inch off of either edge, while the top and bottom edges are based on percentages of the batter's height.

The other half of Triple-A teams will be played with an Automatic Balls and Strikes challenge system in which each team will be allowed three challenges per game with an ability to retain challenges if deemed correct.

The Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, could not confirm this report or which system would be used at Huntington Park in 2023.

A Clippers spokesman told The Dispatch that the organization had never played in a game where the Automatic Balls and Strikes system has been used.

Major League Baseball's intention, according to ESPN, is to acquire feedback from both systems over the 2023 season to help lead to future choices.

MLB has used this technology sparingly at lower levels and satellite leagues such as the Atlantic League.

Last season, Clippers pitching finished tied with the eighth-best ERA in the International League with Worcester Red Sox at 4.40, but finished the season with 574 walks — ninth highest in the league — compared to 1,365 strikeouts: sixth most in the league.

Clippers pitchers collectively posted a WHIP of 1.36.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Clippers to use automated strike zone in 2023 Triple-A season