Red Wings will play with “robotic umpires” this season

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The season opening game for the Rochester Red wings, against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, is on Friday. This year, “robotic umpires” are on the way.

The automatic balls and strikes system will be installed at all AAA parks this season, including Innovative Field. They’ll be in Rochester by late April.

The technology was created to combat wrong calls behind the plate but some Red Wings players aren’t so sure about it just yet.

“The game’s forever changing and it’s here. Whether I like it or I don’t like it, it’s in the game. So I got to adjust to it,” said Red Wings pitcher Jordan Weem.

“I’m curious to see with breaking pitches how that works, because you can through a curveball really high and it just clips the top of the zone somehow,” said Red Wings shortstop Jeter Downs.

There will still be a person behind the plate, but they will just relay the call. The data will be used to see if it should be used in the MLB down the road. You can see the Red Wings 2023 schedule here.