Twins Daily Roundtable: Baseball in 2028

Tuesday's game was an excellent example why mlb needs robo ump calling pitches. Not only did the ump call strikes on several fastballs that were 3-4 inches outside, he also cheated Toronto's pitcher of a called third strike on Dozier that would have saved his team from a disastrous rally by our guys. I don't care if it hurts umpires' feelings or eliminates pitch framing, which few fans care about or even notice. By 2028 we will definitely have robo ump. Heck, it will probably happen in the next couple years. Even with slightly improved calls, these humans screw up games too often. Kill 'em all! Oh sorry, that's my AI talking...

Universal DH? I don't see why. With better training techniques including haptic feedback suits and 3D virtual reality environments, all ballplayers will throw and hit like their favorites heroes. They'll also all dance like Michael Jackson. This may increase the demand for a dead baseball and rules against flash mobs moonwalking during games. 

Also by 2028 I expect to see the minor leagues getting almost as much attention and camera coverage as the majors. The cheap and ready availability of sophisticated, hi-rez cameras and recording software should make it easy to narrate and record games at every level from beginners on up. If anything, the overexposure of everything could make us sick of all video media. Watch for a counterrevolution. The code phrase is, "God, I'm sick of this crap."

Jim Kaat's suggestion of a 7-inning game will definitely happen. Fans will continue to display shorter and shorter attention spans, so we can expect to see more and more of them leaving ballparks after the 7th inning. Empty parks for the 8th and 9th will be so common, the league will finally give up and shorten games. Also, it'll be too hot in many parks for games longer than 7 innings. 120F or hotter on the field will be common. Games will be postponed or canceled due to excessive heat. Imagine Atlanta in mid-July, 2028. Or Miami. Ugh. On the other hand, the league may expand in Canada, following the general migration of humans north. The Twins could be playing the Seals or the Polar Bears for the division championship, led by old man Berrios and Graterol. Good times ahead!

The electronic strike zone is a must. Umpires usually do a good job, but its ridiculous that veteran hitters get more breaks than rookies. Also, inconsistency behind the dish can be the difference in a game.

The universal DH is an ABSOLUTE MUST!!! Watching a pitcher flail at three pitches is boring. Bunting is boring. Watching a pitcher (see Wainwright, Adam) and an expensive star pitcher at that, get injured because of offense will, sadly, be the straw that breaks the camel's back. The DH will be universal at some point. Also, it's not fair to either team to play sporadic interleague series and the World Series with different rules than normal. Baseball has enough quirks, it doesn't need the different rules one also.

Expansion seems more likely than contraction. Maybe the MLB does an Eastern and Western conference? Who knows, but a realignment will be a fun change.

Bottom line, tradition is not relevant. Progress is what matters. Appeal to tradition has held baseball back for too long and it's time to see some changes.

I am not against the electronic strike zone, but doesn’t that tilt the game more in favor of hitters? Hitters will grow very accustomed to the strike zone, never having to make adjustments. I would think a bigger strike zone would counter the electronic zone. Rewarding pitchers who can hit the outside corner with a plate that is 2” wider would seem to level the playing field.

I am all for squeezing the juice from the ball to lower the number of homers, which would in turn increase the value of hitters who can hit to all fields, hit and run and steal bases.

I really liked Seth's take.  Ten years from now there better be a change or America's National Past Time will be on the list with Hockey, Rugby, and LaCrosse as "other sports"  and I hope to still be alive so do not let that happen.

I have lived through the integration, the expansion, the PEDs, and not the metric revolution so I know that change is inevitable.  

What I hope happens is that some stat pusher in a backroom office suddenly has a eureka moment and realizes that 150 years of baseball was not wrong to emphasize the starter.  That a poor 7th and 8th by a good starter is better than a parade of peripatetic relievers.  Go starters - wins do matter.

Then they will replace poor eyesight with a computer and make strikes into strikes while at the same time getting rid of this nonsense called framing  which is in fact fooling the umpire.  Then we can get catchers who can concentrate on fielding, offense, and calling the game.

Then someone will discover that we have been making this game into a relief pitcher contest which is as boring as basketballs foul the big guy last three minutes and we will limit the teams to three relief pitchers per game.

Teams will pay for OBP, steals, runs scored, bases advanced and let the HR slugger learn how to play the whole game and not just isolated swings.   Maybe a courageous team will take up Whitey Herzog's mantle and run its way around the shifts and big K teams and demonstrate why they may have been right to have Coleman, Brock, Henderson, Wills...And to be even more outrageous a fast runner, like a Byron Buxton, will bunt for a hit every time there is a shift.

I don't picture the schedule changing by shortening, but possibly eliminating off days and having more players on a team. 28 perhaps (what with pitch counts and such) or maybe a flexible number that can be activated/unactivted on game day. The union would like it because more players get major league service time (and pays dues et al).

I might also see split seasons, similar to the minors, with winners declared in each half...so teams are kept in contention that way.

I would hope ticket prices would stabilize and the thought of sold out stadiums is a better bet than outpricing the common fan. I mean, concessions and gear ARE sold if people are kept interested in a team, right?

Electronic strike/ball counting will probably take place, with umpires becoming monitor guys who watch calls on replay.

I am not against the electronic strike zone, but doesn’t that tilt the game more in favor of hitters? Hitters will grow very accustomed to the strike zone, never having to make adjustments. I would think a bigger strike zone would counter the electronic zone. Rewarding pitchers who can hit the outside corner with a plate that is 2” wider would seem to level the playing field.

I am all for squeezing the juice from the ball to lower the number of homers, which would in turn increase the value of hitters who can hit to all fields, hit and run and steal bases.

I've seen plenty of examples of pitchers throwing strikes, often in tight situations, and not getting the call from umps. A lot of times it's a high fastball that catches the top of the zone after some low pitches. I can understand how the high heat can fool an ump, but that pitcher deserves that strike, and a robo ump would give it to him. Pitchers that can scatter balls around the zone should not be punished when they're throwing strikes. 

I, for one, welcome our robot masters. 

My point is that hitters, over time, will master the strike zone and gain an advantage. To me it is inherent to the game that each umpire’s unique tendencies bring a different dynamic to the game. In some ways the fact that the strike zone is different every night is something that both hitters and pitchers need to consider. The art of pitching and hitting is to know each umpire and their tendencies.

I don’t think the umpire calling balls and strikes is sacred, but I do think the game could compensate for this added dimension by widening the strike zone with the addition of the computerized zone.

Widening and/or heightening the zone would level the playing field by giving pitchers an opportunity to place their pitches in locations that are a bit more difficult for the hitters.

Probably two dudes on the kiss cam

- Banning of religious activities in the ballpark

I don't think the sign of the cross will go away anytime soon, if ever in our lifetimes.

Expanding rosters a disaster...unless it comes with big restrictions (enforceable) on pitching changes.

Also, getting rid of the rule 5 draft.

I don't think the sign of the cross will go away anytime soon, if ever in our lifetimes.

That's the universal sign for stealing home, right?

By 2028 the temperatures may be such that all teams will at least be in process of building enclosures and air-condition the stadia, or lawsuits of players and/or fans dropping from heat exhaustion could be the new form of ambulance chasing.

They've said the juiced balls might be a product of a more consistent manufacturing process, so I don't see that changing.

I think maple bats will be outlawed by then however.