Can umpires utilize Pitchcom? Carlos Correa of the Twins proposes a concept before the ABS system may be introduced.
Pitchers’ increasing velocity makes the plate umpire’s job more difficult.
One of the most consistent sources of annoyance in baseball for players, managers, and fans alike are ball-strike calls. Aside from perceptions, big-league umpires typically make pretty accurate calls. Home-plater arbiters do not always make the right call, though, and with pitchers gaining velocity and deceptive late movement on their offerings and catchers honing their framing techniques to fool the umpire, it is becoming harder than ever to call a pitch as being in or out of the strike zone. Maybe it’s too difficult.
Plate umpires have called ball strikes correctly in 92.7% of cases from the beginning of the 2023 season to the present (i.e., the first time ever that the league-wide average fastball velocity hit 94 mph). Though it seems like a high number, the truth is that many balls and strikes that are called are clear-cut choices that are clearly in or out of the zone, even to the inexperienced eye. Now think about:
Since the beginning of the 2023 season, plate umps on pitches that are categorized as “on the corners” have had a called-ball-strike accuracy rate of 58.5%, per TruMedia data.
That accuracy rate drops to 45.9% when a pitch is on the corner and the hitter has two strikes on it.
For appropriate emphasis, let me reiterate that the umpire will almost certainly call a pitch on the margins that the hitter takes with two strikes erroneously. And what happens if we include leverage in the equation? Umpires call correctly on the corners with two strikes only 43.2% of the time in high-leverage or clutch situations. Considering the importance of those situations, it’s understandable why hitters and pitchers associate these missed calls with umpire competency.
To be fair, “on the corners” only refers to a small portion of the zone; these percentages are not changed. In the larger picture, considering how pitches are made these days, getting nearly half of the calls right is truly a feat. However, it is still fundamentally true or incorrect, and that has to be recognized.
The automated ball-strike (ABS) system is currently in use at the Triple-A and High-A levels of the minor leagues as a nod to all these realities. It is anticipated that some variation of ABS system may eventually find its way to the highest level, possibly through a challenge-based device. That’s not a guarantee, though, considering MLB’s vested interests and how disparate their stances may be on the wisdom and practicality of an ABS system. What takes place then in the interim?
It’s highly likely that nothing will happen in the meantime, which means that the human eye will still be in charge of making these important decisions. But on Friday, Carlos Correa, the shortstop for the Minnesota Twins, voiced a notion to create a bridge before the (possible) eventual entrance of the ABS system in the major leagues. Correa was upset by ball-strike rulings made during his team’s loss to the Guardians. Correa stated via Tom Withers of the Associated Press:
Pitchers, in my opinion, are currently too nasty for umpires to witness. I believe that the umpires would make much better calls if they had a pitchcom (a communication device) and understood what was going to happen.
“Just being able to call pitches is quite difficult for them, especially with the way catchers are framing these days. We would receive a ton of calls if they had a gadget that said “slider,” and they could predict the slider and know where it needs to start and land in order for it to be a strike.
“But it’s very difficult since they are blind over there. It’s just that I find their work to be too difficult to be critical of them. You move on and sometimes I receive calls and sometimes I don’t.”
Pitch calls during a plate appearance are communicated by catchers and pitchers via an audio device called Pitchcom. The idea is to make it unnecessary for the catcher to use traditional hand signals, which will lessen the likelihood that the opponent will steal signs. Home-plate umpires may conceivably listen in and prepare themselves mentally and possibly visually, as Correa argues. To be clear, Correa is not the first to propose this notion. The “umpires get Pitchcom earpieces” notion seems to have originated from a FanGraphs episode of the Effectively Wild podcast from 2023.
Would this, as Correa believes, help matters in a measurable way? Or would there really be no difference in the umpires’ ability to accurately call modern pitches? Or would the umpire be biased in one way or another if they knew the type of pitch ahead of time? There is always a chance that an invention or new idea will have unforeseen effects.
Maybe the umpires themselves and the relevant league authorities should give the notion some serious thought. Naturally, the latter would know the most about whether or not Pitchcom access could make things better. To reiterate, though, things will probably stay the same until the league switches to an ABS system. This translates into increased annoyance and, based on the data, more missed opportunities at key times.