Paul Skenes hopes MLB never adopts Automated Ball-Strike System

Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Paul Skenes is expected to be one of the biggest names in pitching for years to come in MLB. Now, he’s revealed that he has some strong feelings about how balls and strikes are called.

While making an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Skenes explained that he hopes MLB never adopts an Automated Ball-Strike System as it looks for ways to improve the accuracy of calls behind home plate.

“That’s the challenge system, that’s like the second half of the week,” Paul Skenes said. “They’re trying stuff out in Triple-A right now. First three days of the week are the robot umpire and last three days of the week are (you have to) challenge.”

Basically, a system that automates all balls and strikes would tell the umpire in his ear what the call is and he’d essentially announce the call. However, a challenge system would still have the umpire deciding balls and strikes, but players would be able to challenge those ball and strike calls that they disagreed with. In some way, this would be limited from happening on every pitch.

Notably, the reason why Paul Skenes is against an automated system has to do with the catcher. How the catcher receives and frames the ball to get the call they want from an umpire is a major part of their job, which often keeps players in MLB. Without that, an aspect of that position would be lost.

“For me, I hope that the ABS never gets to the Major Leagues. To be honest, I just don’t like — because I was a catcher too. And if you can receive pitches, that’s job security for catchers,” Skenes said. “For the longest time, I was hoping that I was going to be a major leaguer behind the plate. That’s a job back there too.”

Pitchers and catchers have a strong relationship. They need to be on the same page about what the pitcher is comfortable throwing and how to attack various hitters. It’s the catcher who calls what pitches to throw throughout the game. That’s before the responsibilities of a catcher like receiving the ball, blocking the ball, and throwing runners out are taken into consideration.

Still, MLB testing out new systems in the minor leagues clearly shows concern the league has about the future of calling balls and strikes. Every broadcast has a box that shows the strike zone. Umpires are tracked for their accuracy by fans. There is pressure to get things as correct as possible.