Editing Strike zone (section)

==Enforcement==
[[File:Barry Bonds strike.jpg|thumb|An umpire calling a strike on [[Barry Bonds]] (#25)]]

While baseball rules provide a precise definition for the strike zone, in practice, it is up to the judgment of the [[Umpire (baseball)|umpire]] to decide whether the pitch passed through the zone.

The Official Baseball Rules (Rule 8.02(a), including Comment) state that objections to judgment calls on the field, including balls and strikes, shall not be tolerated, and any manager, coach, or player who leaves his dugout or field position to contest a judgment call will first be warned, and then ejected.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/documents/0/8/0/268272080/2018_Official_Baseball_Rules.pdf|title=Official Baseball Rules, 2018|publisher=Major League Baseball|access-date=2018-06-20}}</ref>

Many umpires, players and analysts, including the authors of a University of Nebraska study on the subject,<ref>[http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/528743/ Newswise Social and Behavioral Sciences News | Larger Strike Zone, Drug Testing Reduced Hitting in Baseball Since 2000<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> believe that due to the [[QuesTec]] pitch-tracking system, the enforced strike zone in 2002–2006 was larger compared to the zone in 1996–2000 and thus closer to the rulebook definition. Some commentators believed the zone had changed so much that some pitchers, such as [[Tom Glavine]], had to radically adjust their approach to pitching for strikes.<ref>[http://www.covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=135777&t=0 Umpires and totals: Men behind the mask occasionally steal the show]</ref> In 2003, a frustrated [[Curt Schilling]] took a baseball bat to a QuesTec camera and destroyed it after a loss, saying the umpires should not be changing the strike zone to match the machines.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030804043833/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2003/06/02/schilling_fined_ap/ D'backs' Schilling fined for destroying QuesTec camera]</ref>

In 2009, a new system called Zone Evaluation was implemented in all 30 Major League ballparks, replacing the QuesTec system; the new system records the ball's position in flight more than 20 times before it reaches home plate.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/sports/baseball/01umpires.html?_r=3&ref=sports|Ball-Strike Monitor May Reopen Wounds], an April 2009 article from ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> Much of the early resistance from Major League umpires to QuesTec had diminished and the implementation of the new Zone Evaluation system in all the parks went largely unmentioned to fans. Like the old system, the new system will be used to grade umpires on accuracy and used to determine which umpires receive postseason assignments, but games themselves are still subject to their error.<ref>[http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/42435022.html?page=2&c=y|Baseball Preview 2009: The umpires' arbiter] from an April 2009 ''[[Star Tribune]]'' article</ref>

As of 2022, [[Minor League Baseball]] has been testing the [[Automated Ball-Strike System]] (ABS) on an experimental basis for several seasons. While the umpire continues to call balls and strikes, ABS determines the strike zone and could be used when a team challenged the umpire's call. Major League Baseball commissioner [[Rob Manfred]] said in October 2022 that ABS would eventually be used in Major League games. ESPN reported that all [[Triple-A (baseball)|AAA]] games would use ABS in the 2023 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2022/10/10/mlb-rob-manfred-automatic-strike-zone/10462411002/|title=Rob Manfred confirms automated strike zone is coming to MLB 'in one form or another'|last=Joseph|first=Andrew|work=[[USA Today]]|date=2022-10-10|access-date=2023-01-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/mlb/charlotte-knights/article271146907.html|title=It worked for Charlotte Knights. Now electronic strike zone will be in all AAA baseball|last=Zietlow|first=Alex|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=2023-01-13}}</ref> For 2023, the system was used for half of all games, with the other half using umpires, with ABS used for up to three challenges per team for each game.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/article276608021.html|title=Automated umpire system earns high marks from Charlotte Knights|last=Effress|first=Sarah|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=2023-07-01}}</ref>