El Paso Chihuahuas adjusting to automatic balls and strikes, among other rule changes

One thing to understand about the new automatic balls and strikes system used in Triple-A baseball — the robo ump — is that it adds jobs to the game-day operation, not subtracts them.

El Paso Chihuahuas announcer Tim Hagerty said he's heard the "it takes away a job from a human umpire" comment, but there's still a home-plate umpire in games with the automated system. There is also the addition of a technician in the first-base well monitoring the cameras around the park and an operator in the press box whose primary job is making sure the right batter is loaded into the computer system.

Automated balls and strikes was one of two rules changes implemented in Triple-A two weeks ago, along with moving second base closer to home, which will also bring it 13.5 inches closer to first and to third base. A major upshot to moving second base has been to create awareness that the bases have never been exactly 90 feet apart and the angles between the bases has never been 90 degrees.

Chihuahuas manager Jared Sandberg said he hasn't really noticed moving second base, particularly when compared to previous rules changes such as the pitch clock and pace of play rules limiting pick-off throws.

He has noticed changes with the robo ump, mostly for the better. Under the new system, cameras track the pitch, project it onto a computer, where there is also a projection of the batter. This is related to the game-track system used at all levels for years. The call is then relayed to the umpire, who has an iphone connected to a wired earpiece.

During Major League telecasts there is a projection of the strike zone and where the pitch is relative to it to enhance the viewing experience for the television audience. For Triple-A ball and strike calls, that's essentially become official.

"I think we've noticed a little more consistency with the strike zone, eliminating the human element," Sandberg said. "I do think the players are better understanding what the strike zone really is.

"You're starting to see some guys making an adjustment, guys who had the high chase are now starting to have a little better zone control. Some of the pitchers as well, as far thinking they are making some pitches that aren't being called strikes.

"It's also affecting the catching as well. Framing was a huge part of the game the past six, seven, eight years. The catchers had that relationship with the umpire, also that ability to frame pitches to get pitches called strikes. You're losing that element as well. But all-in-all, the players are adjusting pretty well to it."

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If, during an at bat, a batter adjusts his stance, such as moving up or back in the batter's box or crouching a little more, that is not taken into account in the automated balls and strikes system. The strike zone will be in the same spot every pitch for an individual batter. It is the job of a technician in the press box to make sure the correct batter is loaded in.

As for details on how a pitch is tracked, that may fall into a "better not to ask category."

Per a post explaining the system on MLB's technology blog: "The pitch data generated by the MLB tracking system is composed of a set of polynomials describing the path the center of the ball travels through space in MLB’s standard coordinate system, where the y-axis points toward the pitcher’s mound from the back of home plate, the z-axis points directly up from the back of home plate, and the x-axis is orthogonal to the other two axes."

As to getting the call to the umpire: "When the pitch was thrown, the MLB tracking system published pitch data to a publish-subscribe queue; Field Data Collector read that data from the queue, determined whether the pitch was a ball or strike, and published that result to a pub/sub topic along with any other data it was responsible for collecting and publishing. The operator console was responsible for receiving the message published to the topic, indicating the call to the ABS operator, and playing the appropriate audio file for that call."

MiLB is not making umpires or on-site technicians available for comment.

As for the important issue, how quickly is this all done, Sandberg said he hasn't noticed a big change.

"There is a little bit of a delay at times when the communication goes into the umpire's ear," he said. "Sometimes there is no communication and the umpire has to make the call himself. But for the most part it hasn't affected the speed of the game."

Moving second base

What else hasn't affected the game, per Sandberg, is moving second base, which was done to encourage the running game. Under previous rules still used in the Majors, the distance from the back of home plate to the back of first (the far side, relative to home) is 90 feet.

The distance from the far back corner of first to the middle of second base is 90 feet. The discrepancy between where on the different bases the measure is taken from means the angle between the first and second relative to home is less than 90 degrees and the distance, as measured from the middle of each bag, is less than 90 feet. It has been since 1887.

That angle and the distance between the bases will now be less. That started two weeks ago, but Sandberg said other rule changes have a bigger impact on how he manages the game.

"I have not noticed any difference at all other than people know the difference," Sandberg said. "The pitch clock has affected the ability for more stolen bases, which is an exciting part of the game.

"There are only two disengagements per batter by the defensive team so you can only pickoff so many times, call timeout so many times. Those are things affecting the running game more than the distance to second base makes.

"Depending on how you play your personnel is going to dictate how you play the game. I don't think this has affected the way I'm managing other than the disengagement rule."

What is a constant at Triple-A over the past few seasons is that it has been a testing ground for changes that are being considered for the Majors. The automated balls and strikes were first tested in 2019 in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which has a partnership agreement with the MLB to test new rules.

It spread to the Low-A Southeast League in 2021 and now is in Triple-A.

"They use the minor leagues up and down to be able to test the rules," Sandberg said. "Some of the rules have already been tested. That's where we are at the Triple-A level."

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Chihuahuas adjusting to automatic balls and strikes