How ‘robo’ umpires are changing baseball

Baseball fans and stats guys — and baseball fans love their stats — are breaking down what they see when it comes to “robo” umps.

To start the season, the umpires allegedly missed 850 calls through the first week, according to an account on X called Umpire Auditor. Of those calls, 155 reportedly were overturned.

The ability to instantly challenge calls proved to be an adjustment for umpires who have the all-too-often controversial job of using the human eye to determine if a small ball traveling 95 mph “painted” the outside corner or not.

At one point this year, 53% of challenges have resulted in an overturned call, with 1,217 overturned and 1,058 confirmed, according to Baseball Savant.

Perhaps the question for players is not what to challenge — but when to challenge. Only receiving two challenges per a regular-length game, challenges could generally keep momentum rolling when used right.

Fans who only show up to the ballpark to heckle might have less to work with, because amid the perceived struggle for umpires, Fox News reports a higher accuracy from the human arbiters than in years past.

So is the ABS good for baseball?

Whether it is intentional or not, umpires have stopped calling strikes like they used to, according to Fox News. It can’t be fun to see your call, one that you have spent years training to get “right,” overturned in an instant.

Nonetheless, are more walks good for the game?

In the MLB’s biggest games of last season, the World Series, the league’s biggest baseball star, Shohei Ohtani, got up to bat 19 times and was walked almost half of the time, with five intentional, according to Statmuse.

One of the world’s greatest players, the one people come to see, stood in the batter’s box and did not connect with the ball nine times. That is not what fans want to see.

The current trend with ABS shows more unintentional walks, for better or worse.

A radar device is seen on the roof behind home plate at PeoplesBank Park during the third inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game, Wednesday, July 10, 2019, in York, Pa. Major League Baseball will test robot umpires as part of a challenge system during spring training at 13 ballparks hosting 19 teams, which could lead to regular-season use in 2026. | Julio Cortez, Associated Press

Live communication with ABS

With the league’s introduction of ABS, umpires have used live communication to improve accuracy, Fox News says.

It appears umpires are stepping up their game to compete against the robots. However, the ABS is not only confirming or overturning challenged calls, but assisting the strike caller every pitch.

Jeff Passan from ESPN joined the “The Rich Eisen Show” to discuss the new assistance.

“MLB, I think, has done a decent job of giving umpires the ability to get in-game feedback,” Passan said. “... Umpires have the two-way microphone and they can talk to the ABS operator and be told that, ‘Hey, you’re calling strikes a little bit off the plate, bring it in a little bit.’ That real time feedback has helped, and it’s great.”

Passan said he believes the thing players want most of all is to just get calls right.

“Hitters want a consistent zone, but I think more than anything, they just want the correct calls. Because they have their idea of what a strike is too, and as close as umpires can come to replicating that, I think the better the game is.”

A replay from the Automated Ball-Strike System plays after a play was challenged is displayed on the scoreboard during the second inning of a spring training baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Phoenix. | Ashley Landis, Associated Press