I've been to a handful of Triple-A games with the Automated Ball-Strike System in effect. Half the games are called by ABS, with the home plate umpires simply relaying the call, and half are called by the umpire with a challenge system in place to right potential wrongs.
Having seen both, I'm a bigger fan of the latter. There's a game-within-the-game element of balancing certainty against leverage, and wondering whether a manager gets annoyed when one of his players burns a challenge in a suboptimal situation. Because challenges are a form of currency, formally protesting a pitch requires players to put their money where their mouths are, and when an umpire goes 4-for-4 on checked calls, you start to appreciate the skill behind the plate as well. And it seems weird that umpires have to develop the ability to call balls and strikes as they work their way up the chain, only for it to not matter once they reach the highest levels.
Jayson Stark surveyed a whole bunch of players, coaches and team employees about their questions and preferences, and there's a lot of work that still needs to be done before ABS is ready to call strikes with near-certain accuracy for players of every shape, size and stance in every park. Then there's the question of whether players even want that, because as Xavier Fernandez's pitching appearance earlier this month showed, calling eephus pitches in a blowout with precision made the game more enjoyable for precisely no one.
Birmingham 7, Montgomery 1
- José Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with a homer.
- Colson Montgomery, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Bryan Ramos was 3-for-4 with a double.
- Wilfred Veras homered, singled and struck out twice.
- Edgar Quero and Alsander Womack both were 0-for-4 with a K.
- Tim Elko, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Luis Mieses wore the collar.
- Terrell Tatum doubled and struck out twice.
- Matthew Thompson: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 WP 46 of 84 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 2, Rome 1
- Loidel Chapelli and Jacob Burke both were 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Brooks Baldwin, 2-for-3.
- DJ Gladney went 1-for-3 with a double.
- Norge Vera: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 23 of 41 pitches for strikes.
