For baseball’s tallest hitters, robo-umps should bring consistency to a tricky strike zone

PHOENIX (AP) — San Francisco Giants rookie Bryce Eldridge was logged at 6-foot-7 “and some change,” he said. That was the measurement for the slugger for the major leagues’ Automated Ball-Strike System.

That is one expansive strike zone — but a more defined one, at least.

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“I think they told me I’m the tallest guy they’ve measured, position player-wise,” Eldridge said during spring training. “So I got that going for me, at least. So I’ve got the biggest zone, the biggest ABS.”

After years of testing in the minors, the robot-umpire system for reviewing ball/strike calls is going to be used in regular-season games in the majors this year. The abbreviation for the setup is ABS, but the most important letters when it comes to the change just might be S-I-Z-E — relating to the strike zone for some of the game’s tallest players.

“I got a lot of respect for the umpires and what they do behind the plate,” New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “So I can usually pride myself in not showing them up or putting on a show or doing anything like that because they got a tough job back there. So we’ll see. I’ll find the right time to use it. If they’re pretty outrageous calls, I think I’ll use it.”

The 6-foot-7 Judge, who won his third AL MVP award last year, sounded more excited about the possibilities for 6-5 teammate Giancarlo Stanton.

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“His whole career has been kind of getting screwed over. And also now, this kind of changes everything,” Judge said. “He’s so routine oriented to where you get a bad call, you get a good call, whatever, it’s kind of about flushing to get to the next pitch. Well, now you got 2 seconds to try to make up your mind.”

Strike zones vary depending on a player’s height — starting at 53.5% of a batter’s height for the top and 27% of a batter’s height for the bottom. The top and the bottom of the zone for baseball’s biggest giants — a list that also includes 6-7 center fielder Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates and 6-6 left fielder James Wood of the Washington Nationals — have long been two difficult areas for…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/baseballs-tallest-hitters-robo-umps-132849940.html

Author : JAY COHEN

Publish date : 2026-03-13 13:28:00

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