Twins shortstop Royce Lewis digs in, and we're ready for the 2028 season. The crowd is buzzing at Target Field.
First pitch _ fastball. Just missed the outside corner of the electronic strike zone. Ball one.
The Yankees are playing Lewis to pull. There was a time, years ago, when they could have shifted three infielders to the left of second base. That was before the rule change.
We'll finish that story in a minute, as veteran Luis Severino works quickly. The pitch clock barely starts, and here's the 1-0 pitch. Lewis smashes it up the middle, leadoff single ...
Close your eyes, listen to the winds of change and imagine the difference between Major League Baseball now and how it could look in 10 years.
With games slogging along at three hours apiece, strikeouts soaring and batting averages tumbling to a 46-year low, the slow-to-change sport is ripe for some subtle and not-so-subtle tweaks.
"I've got people _ you know, guys I play golf with and have lunch with _ that are all avid fans," former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat said. "They just say, 'We might watch a few innings, but we can't watch a whole game.' "
Kaat, an Emmy Award nominee as an analyst for MLB Network, is among the chorus of longtime baseball people who love the game but are concerned with the current version, especially the slow-moving pace.
Kaat is one of more than 30 people the Star Tribune recently interviewed across baseball, including Commissioner Rob Manfred, for insight into what changes could be coming over the next decade.
They had myriad ideas, and some disagreed, but based on their predictions, three controversial changes that could be coming before 2028 are a pitch clock, a ban on infield shifts and, yes, an electronic strike zone.
"Eventually [the electronic zone is] going to happen," MLB Network analyst Eric Byrnes said. "Whether that's within the next two years, five years or 10 years, I look forward to it being implemented."
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Electronic umpiring behind plate?
Last fall, Manfred said the technology wasn't ready to hand ball-strike calls over to computers. At the time, the system MLB used to evaluate umpires had a reported two-inch margin of error.
But this month, Manfred said the "accuracy and speed" of tracking pitches "has improved dramatically" this season.
"I've always said," Manfred added, "that when those two areas _ accuracy and speed _ improve to the point where you can say this is better than a human being would do, there's an important policy question that is going to have to be discussed."
MLB already uses TrackMan's 3D-radar system to record pitch type, location, velocity and spin rate. Once refined, that technology could determine balls and strikes, with the decision instantly relayed to the home plate umpire, who would still have authority over the game and call foul tips, catcher's interference and make other rulings.
"The umpires are the best in the world at what they do," Byrnes said. "But because we have this technology and information available to us, it's irresponsible if we don't use it."
Former Twins first baseman Justin Morneau agrees, saying the electronic strike zone is the first change he'd make to MLB.
"It drove me crazy," said the 2006 American League MVP. "You'd go to places like Yankee Stadium, ninth inning and it either hasn't been a strike the entire game, or it gets expanded, depending on who you're facing."
With an electronic zone, "there would be no arguing," Morneau said. "People say the game would take longer. No, pitchers wouldn't nibble at the edge of the strike zone to see how much that umpire was giving them. The zone would be the same every single time."
Cubs manager Joe Maddon and third baseman Kris Bryant are among those who have said they're open to trying it. Hall of Fame pitcher Jack Morris would like to see an electronic zone tested in the minor leagues first.
Twins right fielder Max Kepler seems torn. He has been "rung up on calls that have been completely wrong, but everyone makes mistakes," he said. "If you keep changing the game, there's not going to be magic to baseball anymore. It's just going to be robotic and predictable."
Jeff Nelson is in his 20th season as an MLB umpire and takes pride in his work calling balls and strikes. He's not ready to hand those duties over to a computer.
"I think the devil's in the details," he said. "I'm partial to us [calling balls and strikes], but there's definitely momentum for doing something like that within certain parts of the game."
