This year's All-Star game displayed a heavily debated topic in recent years: an automated system to help umpires call balls and strikes.
It's called ABS, or the automatic balls and strikes challenge system, and it's separate from the strike zone box you see on televised games.
The ABS challenge system creates a 2D adjustable strike zone. It has a tracking system to determine if the path of the baseball intersects with any part of the zone.
More than 7 million viewers had a chance to watch the system in use during baseball's biggest exhibition game: this year's All-Star contest in Atlanta.
Though nothing official has been announced, there are indications the new system will be used by the Kansas City Royals and other Major League Baseball teams next season.
According to The Athletic last month, Major League Baseball plans to bring up the subject of ABS for the purpose of activating it in the majors next year.
“It's an accurate system,” said Rich Rieker, MLB’s director of umpire development, at last year’s umpire clinic in Kansas City. “It's just a matter of time when they want to bring it to the major leagues.”
ABS is already being used on a regular basis for the Royals Triple-A affiliate in Omaha.
The ABS system isn’t in effect at the Double-A level. That means the Wichita Wind Surge players would not be able to use it, nor is it available in the American Association Independent League, which would affect the Kansas City Monarchs.
This story was originally published by Kansas Public Radio.
