How might challenges\u00a0impact\u00a0strategy?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The system\u00a0has been tested in the\u00a0minor\u00a0leagues,\u00a0as well as\u00a0last season\u2019s All-Star Game and spring training.\u00a0During tests,\u00a0there have\u00a0been\u00a0about four challenges per game and a 50 percent overturn rate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen what kind of game strategy\u00a0emerges\u00a0during the season\u2014that is, might players request challenges only\u00a0in\u00a0high-leverage moments late in\u00a0a close game, which appears to have been borne out during the tests?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
By choosing a challenge system instead of allowing every pitch in a game to be second-guessed, \u201cplayers and teams will have to use these in a way that they\u00a0get the most value\u00a0out of them,\u201d Martinez says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the goal is to\u00a0ultimately correct erroneous calls, critics have argued that the use of instant replay in all sports\u00a0has\u00a0slowed down the games and fundamentally altered the\u00a0fan\u00a0experience<\/a>, not always for the better.\u00a0Besides, arguing with the ump is, for some fans, anyway, part of baseball\u2019s charm.\u00a0<\/p>\n If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0wondering about\u00a0how ABS\u00a0impacts\u00a0the length of a\u00a0ballgame, the\u00a0league reports that the\u00a0test challenges have added\u00a0about a minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually a tribute to human umpires that baseball is not charging right into a system in which robots call every pitch,\u201d wrote MLB senior writer Jayson Stark in The Athletic. \u201cSo in theory, umps can still control the pace of a game and call strikes the way humans see them.\u201d<\/p>\n But Stark added that \u201cin real life, if the experience in Triple A (minor leagues) tells us anything, those umpires are going to quickly get tired of having challenged calls overturned. So how can they avoid that? By calling balls and strikes the way they think the robots would call them.\u201d<\/p>\n When the league posted a QR code on a jumbotron and solicited fan feedback during a spring training game last year, 52 percent of those who responded indicated that the impact of ABS technology on their experience was \u201cvery positive,\u201d and 20 percent, \u201csomewhat positive.”<\/p>\n In a routine he posted on his Facebook page, comedian Steve Hofstetter quipped, \u201cI don\u2019t understand why anyone is against the idea of a robot umpire. It\u2019s like, \u2018Well, it would take the human element out of the game.\u2019 I\u2019d be like, \u2018You mean the mistakes?\u2019\u2009\u201c<\/p>\n How\u00a0accurate\u00a0is\u00a0the technology?\u00a0<\/p>\n