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For Baseball's Tallest Hitters, Robo-Umps Should Bring Consistency to a Tricky Strike Zone

This year, Major League Baseball will deploy the Automated Ball-Strike System in regular-season games after years of minor-league testing, focusing on strike-zone sizing for tall hitters.
Because strike zones are set at 53.5% and 27% of batter height, umpires have struggled with calls for tall players like 6-7 Oneil Cruz and 6-6 James Wood.
Each team can challenge two calls per game under the ABS review system and retains a challenge if successful; a team tied after nine innings gets one extra challenge, with only a batter, pitcher or catcher allowed to challenge by tapping a helmet or cap.
Players including Aaron Judge, New York Yankees slugger, and Bryce Eldridge, San Francisco Giants rookie , welcomed clearer strike zones, with Judge saying he'll use ABS for 'pretty outrageous calls'.
Players say the ABS could change game strategy, citing a ninth-inning moment where a called strike later became a home run, and Judge noted they have about 2 seconds to adjust, as Carson Kelly explained catchers must adapt.

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