Yankees player Jose Caballero was convinced that Logan Webb’s pitch was out of the strike zone, so he decided to challenge the decision, making Major League Baseball history with the use of this new system.
The slugger lost the first challenge taken to the so-called “robot umpire” of Major League Baseball, unsuccessfully appealing a strike by the Giants right-hander in the Yankees’ 7-0 Opening Day win.
What was the play that Jose Caballero appealed?
Logan Webb opened the fourth inning with a 90.7 mph sinker in the upper inside part of the zone, which was called a strike by Bill Miller, an MLB umpire since 1997.
Caballero touched his helmet and the 12 Hawk-Eye cameras of the Automated Ball and Strike System confirmed Miller’s decision on a graphic shown on the Oracle Park scoreboard.
I thought it was a little bit higher than what it showed. I think it’s very good, it keeps everybody accountable. It gives us the opportunity to really see how good we are with the zone or not
New York was winning 5-0 at the time. Caballero drove in the first run with an RBI single during a five-run second inning against Logan Webb, who achieved his 1,000th career strikeout in the fourth inning.
Background of the ‘robot umpire’
The automated system had been tested in the minor leagues since 2019 and was used during Major League spring training in 2025 and 2026. Some managers have said they will still find ways to argue and be ejected.
Just as happened in soccer with VAR, Yankees manager Aaron Boone believes that this system is unnecessary when umpires are well prepared to take note of plays that can be decided from the human factor.
Despite his animosity towards the implementation of the ‘robot umpire’, Boone and his coaching staff are working hard with their squad to quickly learn its pros and cons, as well as how it works to avoid problems later on.
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