“For the sake of the pitcher’s stability, he has to receive it well…the tone will not change.”
‘Top Framing’ catcher Yoo Kang-nam also said, “It’s not a record, it’s a catch for the pitcher.”
Reporter Kwon Hyuk-jun = Professional baseball will face big changes next season. The plan is to introduce fair decisions and fast-paced baseball games by introducing the Automatic Ball and Strike Judgment System (ABS), also known as a ‘robot umpire’, and a pitch clock.
Among these, there is a lot of interest in ‘robot referees’. With the introduction of video review, the overall number of misjudgments has decreased significantly, but controversy over strike and ball decisions that are not subject to review continues.
There are observations that if robot umpires are introduced, the evaluation criteria for the ‘catcher’ position will also change.
Until now, catcher was a position where defensive ability was very important. A catcher with a combination of ball mixing, pitching lead, and strong arms was known as an ‘elite catcher.’
‘Framing’ was also one of the virtues a good catcher must have. Framing is the process of ‘meating’ a ball that is slightly outside the strike zone so that it is ruled a strike. It is an ‘advanced skill’ that dazzles the eyes of the referee.
However, if the strike-ball decision is made by ‘AI’ rather than a person, there is a high possibility that framing will no longer work. One major criterion for evaluating catchers could disappear.
However, Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung, a former catcher, had a different opinion. He said, “Even if robot umpires are introduced, it absolutely does not mean that the catcher’s framing will become unnecessary.”
Manager Kim said, “Pitchers can feel better depending on how well the catcher catches them when they throw the ball,” and added, “Even if robot umpires are introduced, there will be no change at all in the standards for viewing catchers or the catcher training policy.” “It is,” he dismissed.
The thoughts of Lotte’s starting catcher Yoo Kang-nam (31) were not different from Manager Kim’s. Yoo Kang-nam is considered the catcher with the best framing ability in the KBO League.
Yoo Kang-nam said, “I don’t think it will be easy to fool AI,” but “I think framing is still important in terms of giving the pitcher a sense of stability.”
He emphasized, “Even if a robot umpire is introduced, if the catcher catches the pitch thrown by the pitcher uneasily, it will inevitably have an impact on the pitcher as well,” and added, “Rather than for the sake of judgment, the pitcher must catch it equally well for the pitcher’s sake.”
Meanwhile, coach Kim Tae-hyung, who was newly appointed as Lotte’s head coach, was satisfied with Lotte’s catcher lineup.메이저사이트
Manager Kim smiled and said, “I think Lotte’s current catchers are the best in the league,” and added, “I don’t think I’ll have anything to say out loud.”
Yoo Kang-nam also responded, “I think I need to prepare well starting from spring camp so that I don’t show any loopholes,” and “I think the most important thing is to prepare well so that I can consistently hear the coach’s evaluation.”