Is It Time for Baseball to Embrace Technology? Why MLB Needs an NFL-Style Instant Replay System

MLB has been going through a slow but sure technological revolution for the last two decades. Led by Commissioner Rob Manfred, changes have been reflected in developments in player performance improvement. Some also have to do with fan engagement, deploying statistical analysis into drafts and trades, and many more. But is it still somehow lacking?

Despite its pre-existing advances, MLB stays old at heart when it comes to player decisions during games. Their instant replay approach sticks to a traditional format. But it still brings the question to mind: should they choose to go with an NFL-style instant replay system?

Traditional Conservation vs. Modern Evolution: Is MLB on the right side of history?

Baseball is famous for its conservative ways. One cannot expect the board to accept just any advancement that comes their way. Pros and cons are a part of it but is sticking to the decades-old approach the correct way? When making correct calls regarding a complicated move scored by the sluggers, the current system may be faulty.

MLB initiated the instant replay review system beginning in 2014. It has since been helping improve umpire decisions. It is called for by a team’s manager’s challenge or the chief of umpires. However, the current system fails to leave behind the fallacy of the human element back in the diamond despite its initial appreciation. The reason? The reviewers are humans, after all. And to err is human.

In a recent interview with Foul Territory TV, slugger Whit Merrifield indulged in the MLB’s necessity of devising a smart future for the sake of its players. According to him, “Making the channel system more like the NFL channel system” is something that needs to be talked more about. An innovative approach to improving America’s favorite sport, for sure. But what is the NFL doing with its replay channel that contrasts so differently with that of MLB?

What can MLB learn from NFL advancements?

This year, MLB umpires made statistically more accurate calls compared to any other season for the first time in regular-season history. Even so, they missed around 21,000 calls, which in a major league scenario could make or break a player’s career. Cue the NFL and its modern adaptation of gameplay.

Beginning in 2021, the NFL brought a revolutionary and welcome change to the fields: a smart system that will assist the review board in making literally accurate decisions. Hawk-Eye ensures head-to-toe coverage of every move made on the field by giving access to visual feeds and multiple game angles synced and provided by various broadcast partners. The additional cameras have since been helping speed up the NFL leagues’ instant replay reviews, adding a never-seen-before clarity to the decisional procedures.

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MLB can learn from the NFL and consider moving forward with a similar approach as they are on the brink of reflecting their team migrations and high-priced draft decisions. As fans know, the unprecedented bonds MLB has formed with technology in the past have never failed to make space for better gameplay.

Take sabermetrics, for example. Following the path of a certain Oakland Athletics official, the entire baseball industry has profited from depending on the data derivation part of their player selections. Old habits die hard, but new resolves hit harder! Certain other changes implemented on the diamond in the last two decades demand an honorable mention, including more focus on the helmet situation of the pitchers, ensuring more secure gameplay.

Changes afoot, within, and beyond the diamond

Since 2000, MLB has been seeing waves of rebellion and revolution under the radar. It ranges from small, unpredictable, almost unseen changes to large-scale ones. Starting from their SABR approach to managers raising voices demanding a better salary structure, the future of baseball proves to have arrived earlier than one would expect.

Some of the other notable changes made in the last few decades include the debut of virtual reality, brought forth by the San Francisco Giants. They are putting more focus on helmets for pitchers to ensure more secure gameplay. Correcting pitches, equipping their skippers with tablets, the introduction of StatCast -the list of advancements goes on, heralded by a board consisting of both traditional and modern-minded trustees.

Commissioner Manfred has always proved to be a visionary when it comes to adapting to trendsetting advancements in the field. He said to CBS Sports once, “I think that technology issues … are a huge part of that. We’re making very extensive efforts to use technology.” The man seems interested in preserving the game’s values, but also passing them on in better form to the next generation of players and fans.

Whether MLB will stick to being conservative on the field or not is more of an argument than an introspection. But when it comes to the process of applying techniques that ensure proper validation of their players and their future, no poll should be made against them. Now, we will have to wait and watch if the officials realize the same themselves.

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