Automated Umpiring May Be Coming to Major League Baseball

Kansas Public Radio | By Greg Echlin

Published July 21, 2025 at 11:23 AM CDT

An automated system to help umpires call balls and strikes could be coming to Major League Baseball, whether purists — or the players — like it or not.

This year's baseball All-Star game displayed a heavily debated topic in recent years: an automated system to help umpires call balls and strikes. Though nothing official has been announced, there are indications the new system will be used by the Kansas City Royals and all the other Major League Baseball teams next season. Greg Echlin reports.

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Greg Echlin

Ever since he set foot on the baseball diamond at Fernwood Park on Chicago's South Side, Greg Echlin began a love affair with the world of sports. After graduating from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, he worked as a TV sports anchor and a radio sportscaster in Salina, Kansas. He moved to Kansas City in 1984 and has been there since covering sports. Through the years, he has covered multiple Super Bowls, Final Fours and Major League Baseball's World Series and All-Star games.

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