Former Cy Young winner slams use of robotic umpires, holds that MLB is fine without emergent tech

After the 2023 MLB season was almost cancelled due a player's strike, league commissioner Rob Manfred thought it was time to make some big-time rule changes.

The commissioner, who has held the office since 2015, amassed an 11-person "competition committee" to review the league's current rules and suggest changes. The changes recommended were even more sweeping than most expected.

In addition to enacting restrictions of defensive shifts, larger base sizes, the new pitch clock was the biggest change. Under the new rules, pitchers have fifteen second (twenty if a runner is on base) to deliver their pitch. Likewise, batters must be ready to hit by the eight-second marker.

The pitch clock was immediately met with mixed reactions, and some feared even more radical changes to come. Ahead of the 2023 season, Triple-A baseball also announced that they would be using Automatic Balls and Strikes System (ABS). In essence, robots would be calling pitches.

"Some quick food for thought during Take Me Out to the Ballgame: This is one of the games this season the Mets are using the technology, known as the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) with each team allowed three challenges per game. My first reaction: INCREDIBLE!" - Max Gifford

While some more progressive voices are in favor of ABS making its way to the MLB, others are dead against it. In a recent appearance on AJ Pierzynski's Foul Territory Podcast, a former Cy Young winner has come out against the technology.

Tom Glavine, who won two Cy Young Awards pitching for the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s, has come out against ABS. Speaking to Pierzynski, a former MLB catcher, Glavine gave his reasoning:

"I am not in favor of the robo-ump. I don't want that There is so much intrigue in the cat and mouse game between pitcher and catcher umpire"

Glavine went on to describe the practice of pitch-framing, and the central role it plays in the league, both today and during his era. Apart a five season-hiatus with the New York Mets, Glavine was a career-long Atlanta Brave.

Will the MLB enact robotic umpires soon?

Even with the controversy continuing to swirl around the pitching clock, MLB boss Rob Manfred has affirmed that there will be no changes to his rules. As such, many believe that the league's top man has been given the green light to further change the game. However, judging by initial reactions, it appears as though MLB fans will not take kindly to having robots call games anytime soon.