It is expected that the scene where a batter who fails to accept a strike stares at the referee and has an argument will disappear. Catcher’s ball catching (framing) technique, which makes the ball look like a strike, is also meaningless. The robot referee will take over the authority to make a decision from the opening game of the exhibition game in the 2024 KBO League on Saturday.유흥알바
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) held an ABS (Automatic Ball-Strike System) briefing session at The K Hotel in Seoul on the 7th and said, “It is a system in which the camera tracks the pitch, determines the ball and strike through the program, and delivers it to the umpire by voice,” adding, “If this is applied, the accuracy of the referee’s judgment will increase from 91.3% last year to 95-96% this season.”
At its board meeting in October last year, the KBO decided to apply ABS and pitch clock starting from the 2024 season. ABS was introduced to the Futures League from 2020 and went through supplementary processes such as consistency and shorter delivery time to the referee. “As the result of ABS’ decision is final, anyone who complains or interferes with the proceeding of the game will leave immediately,” a KBO official said.
The right-and-left range of a strike has been extended to 2 centimeters outside the home plate to prevent side effects of a surge in walks. The U.S. Major League Baseball is also operating ABS by expanding the scope by 2.5 centimeters in the Minor League. Even if a catcher moves the position of receiving the ball using framing, it is not reflected in the system at all.
The top and bottom are judged as strikes only when the height standards are met at the center and end of the pitcher’s home plate. The upper part is 56.35% of the batter’s height and the lower part is 27.64%. In other words, a strike zone of 49.75~101.43cm for 180cm batters and 52.52~107.07cm for 190cm batters is applied.
If only a part of the ball comes within the range, it will be recognized as a strike. The KBO said, “It reflected the average value of the strike zone,” adding, “We have newly measured the heights of all batters registered in the league to make accurate decisions and even measured the heights of pitchers in case of unexpected situations.”
A pitch clock that limits pitching time will also be implemented. The pitch clock is an electronic clock that is installed where a pitcher is visible. The time limit for a pitch is 18 seconds when no runner is present, and 23 seconds if present (15 seconds, 20 seconds) in the MLB. However, only verbal warnings will be issued in the first half of the 2024 season on a trial basis. MLB, which introduced the regulation last year, shortened the duration of a game from 3 hours and 4 minutes a year earlier to 2 hours and 40 minutes.