Trending Now - Dominican Republic's WBC Exit Sparks Debate Over Umpire Calls
WHO:
Major League Baseball (MLB)
Joe Martinez, MLB vice president of on-field strategy
Cory Blaser, plate umpire
Geraldo Perdomo, player for the Dominican Republic
Pete Crow-Armstrong, U.S. outfielder
Albert Pujols, Dominican manager
Mason Miller, pitcher
WHAT:
MLB will test reducing permissible disengagements by pitchers from two to one per plate appearance.
MLB will implement stricter limits on batter timeouts and resetting the pitch clock for issues with PitchCom.
Starting pitchers will be allowed to re-enter games in the Arizona Complex League, Florida Complex League, and Dominican Summer League if they threw at least 25 pitches during the inning they were removed.
The average time of a nine-inning game increased from 2 hours, 36 minutes in 2024 to 2 hours, 38 minutes in 2025.
The stolen base attempt success rate decreased from 80.2% in 2023 to 77.8% in 2025.
MLB's robot umpire technology system for checked swing calls is moving from Class A to Triple-A.
The Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System will launch on March 25, 2026.
Each team will have two challenges per game, retaining successful challenges.
Starting pitchers will be allowed to re-enter games in the Arizona Complex League, Florida Complex League, and Dominican Summer League.
The strikeout rate was cut by 3% during last year's testing of the robot umpire.
The distance between first and second base, and second and third base will be reduced by 9 inches.
The average time of a nine-inning game increased from 2 hours, 36 minutes in 2024 to 2 hours, 38 minutes in 2025.
The stolen base attempt success rate decreased from 80.2% in 2023 to 77.8% in 2025.
The Dominican Republic lost to the United States 2-1 in the World Baseball Classic due to a called strike that appeared low.
WHERE:
Miami, Florida
Arizona Complex League, Florida Complex League, Dominican Summer League
Triple-A Pacific Coast League
World Baseball Classic
WHEN:
The Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System will launch on March 25, 2026, following tests that started in the minors in 2019.
The checked swing test will expand to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League starting on May 5, 2026.
The robot umpire system will launch on March 25, 2026.
The checked swing test will expand to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League starting on May 5, 2026.
The experiment began on May 20, 2025, in the Class A Florida State League.
The Dominican Republic's loss occurred on March 5th, 2026.
WHY:
The changes aim to improve player development and health by allowing more flexible workload management.
The robot umpire system aims to improve the accuracy of ball-strike calls and enhance player development and health through flexible workload management.
HOW:
The robot umpire system allows appeals on ball/strike calls, with a swing defined as occurring if the maximum angle between the bat head and bat handle exceeds 45 degrees.
MLB will test moving second base to be entirely within the infield perimeter during the second half of the season.
(UPDATED March 16, 2026 19:20 UTC)
Major League Baseball is set to implement several new rules aimed at improving player development and health, including reducing the number of permissible disengagements by pitchers from two to one per plate appearance. Additionally, stricter limits will be placed on batter timeouts and resetting the pitch clock for PitchCom issues, while starting pitchers in certain leagues will now be allowed to re-enter games if they threw at least 25 pitches before being removed. The Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System is scheduled to launch on March 25, 2026, following successful tests in the minors, and the checked swing test will expand to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League starting on May 5, 2026.
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(UPDATED March 16, 2026 17:20 UTC)
Major League Baseball is set to launch its robot umpire technology for checked swing calls on March 25, 2026, moving from Class A to Triple-A, with teams allowed two challenges per game. This system aims to improve the accuracy of ball-strike calls, and during last year's testing, the strikeout rate was reduced by 3%. In other news, the Dominican Republic recently lost to the United States 2-1 in the World Baseball Classic, a game marred by a controversial called strike that appeared low.