Major League Baseball has been edging toward automating the strike zone (the so-called “robot umpires”) for several years.
Now, according to Buster Olney of ESPN, an ABS (automated ball/strike system) is coming to Triple-A ballparks this season:
The Automatic Balls and Strikes system, commonly referred to as ABS, will be deployed in two different ways. Half of the Class AAA games will be played with all of the calls determined by an electronic strike zone, and the other half will be played with an ABS challenge system similar to that used in professional tennis.