MLB to test camera system for calling balls, strikes

[SBR Drew]

Major League Baseball will test a computerized camera system for balls and strikes during spring training games this year, a source told ESPN on Wednesday.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred indicated earlier Wednesday that MLB would use the system to call balls and strikes during spring training games, but the source later clarified to ESPN that the system would only be tested and that plate umpires would still call balls and strikes.

[SBR Drew]

Hours after baseball commissioner Rob Manfred indicated that an electronic strike zone would be used in spring training games, the executive committee of the umpires' union clarified that news, indicating that the electronics would not be used in place of a plate ump's judgment.
Rather, as umpires go through their regular spring work, MLB will be operating an electronic zone for nine games in Florida as it continues to refine its system that is expected to be implemented in the years ahead.


A Major League Baseball official confirmed this.
The umpires' statement also addressed their stance on the electronic strike zone.
The union, according to the statement, "has never opposed the use of technology to improve the accuracy of calls, including on balls and strikes, if it can be done while protecting the integrity of the game. We do not claim to be perfect and we work constantly to improve our performance.

[SBR Drew]

Could happen in 2022-23 ...for real