MLB will test its robot umpire system at the next All-Star Game

While human umpires will still make the first call at the All-Star Game on July 15, Major League Baseball plans to let teams use a robot umpire to challenge rulings, ESPN reports. The automated ball-strike (ABS) system has been around for years in one form or another, but relying on a computer's judgement of a pitch has yet to become a permanent fixture of major league play.

MLB is essentially porting over the ABS challenge system used during spring training for the upcoming All-Star Game in Atlanta. Human umpires will call balls and strikes as they normally would, but teams will be given two opportunities to challenge the call, using ABS as backup. "Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch," ESPN writes."The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge" and if ABS reproduces the human umpire's call, the challenge fails. If the system makes a different call, the team can choose to accept that new ruling.

The current version of ABS uses Hawk-Eye, a computer vision system developed by Sony, to monitor the "exact location of the pitch relative to the batter’s strike zone," according to MLB. The league has tested relying on ABS exclusively for calls, but views the ABS challenge system as a good compromise between tradition and technology. Like other possible rule changes, it also adds a new element of strategy: With only two opportunities to challenge, players have to be selective.

MLB hasn't announced official plans to implement the ABS challenge system during the normal baseball season, but the continued tests seem like a good indication that it could happen at some point.

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