Columbus Clippers to use automated strike zone in 2023 Triple-A season

The 2023 baseball season will be adding a new wrinkle to the Columbus Clippers and all other Triple-A teams across the country.

According to ESPN, an electronic strike zone will be implemented by all Triple-A teams starting this spring with teams using one of two different iterations of the Automatic Balls and Strikes system.

Half of Triple-A games will be called solely determined by an electronic strike zone, which debuted in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in May. According to a report by The Athletic, the electronic strike zone extends 19 inches wide at the middle of home plate, adding an inch off of either edge, while the top and bottom edges are based on percentages of the batter’s height.

The other half of Triple-A teams will be played with an Automatic Balls and Strikes challenge system in which each team will be allowed three challenges per game with an ability to retain challenges if deemed correct.

The Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, could not confirm this report or which system would be used at Huntington Park in 2023.

A Clippers spokesman told The Dispatch that the organization had never played in a game where the Automatic Balls and Strikes system has been used.

Major League Baseball’s intention, according to ESPN, is to acquire feedback from both systems over the 2023 season to help lead to future choices.