Chicago Cubs: An electronic strike zone is coming to baseball

Chicago Cubs: Major League Baseball inching closer to the ESZ

Technology has been moving fast and so have the opinions of players, owners and the commissioner himself. In 2017, he strayed from questions about the electronic strike zone because the technology apparently was not there. This year, though, it almost seems inevitable. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told the New York Daily News recently that owners may soon have to face a decision about the technology.

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"“I think we are much closer than we were a year ago to having the technological capability to actually call the strike zone,” Manfred said. “The accuracy is way up – way better than what it was a year ago. The technology continues to move… and it actually moved a little faster than I might have thought.”"

But the tide seems to be turning fast toward making this change. The biggest questions mark out there right now is if the umpires will be onboard or against this change. There has even been talk that the ESZ could be simply used for challenges. MLB Network analyst Eric Byrnes told Lindsay Berra of MLB.com back in 2015:

"“Introduce the system by using it for challenge calls with two strikes,” Byrnes said. “Make it available only on outcome pitches.”"

But will the arguments really stop by using this system just to confirm calls? Or will Zobrist end up turning to R2-D2 at home plate saying, “That’s why we want humans making our calls.”