Yankees catchers hope another rule change isn’t on the horizon

TAMPA — After a spring of change throughout Major League Baseball, players, coaches and fans will soon see how new rules impact contests that matter.

Already, the pitch clock has shaved time off games. Bigger bases have led to more swipes. Shift restrictions have offered hope to pull hitters (when teams don’t exploit loopholes by using just two outfielders).

But another potential change — the implementation of automated ball-strike systems, or ABS — has left some wary. That includes the Yankees’ catching tandem of Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka, two backstops who excel at pitch-framing. The skill would theoretically become obsolete — or at least significantly diminished — if MLB were to use so-called robo umps.

There are two different versions of ABS. According to Baseball America’s Josh Norris, Triple-A and the Low-A Florida State League will use the systems this year. Some games will incorporate “Full ABS,” which means the computer system will determine balls and strikes. Other games will use “ABS Challenge,” which is when balls and strikes are determined by a living, breathing home plate umpire — but can be challenged by a pitcher, catcher or hitter via the ABS tech. Teams get three challenges per game, but don’t lose one when successful.

While nothing has been determined yet, recent precedent says minor league testing precedes big league installation, and commissioner Rob Manfred has expressed a desire to adopt ABS in the majors by 2024.

“I’m not in favor of it,” Higashioka told the Daily News when asked about the full system. “It takes away a certain aspect of the game that’s kind of been present for its entirety, which is the relationship between batter, catcher, umpire and pitcher. So it’s kind of that human element. It’s a small part of the game that I personally like, so it’d be a shame if we lost it.”

It’s no surprise that Higashioka feels that way.

With a career OPS+ of 72, the backup catcher earns his keep defensively. That includes pitch-framing. Higashioka was a top-12 framer in 2022, according to Baseball Savant’s Catcher Framing Runs metric. He was a top-17 framer based on the site’s Strike Rate stat.

Trevino was even better. In fact, he outperformed every catcher in both areas last year, and by notable margins, while recording a career-high 90 OPS+.

Like his teammate, Trevino has no interest in ABS.

“I’ve been pretty vocal about it. Obviously, I’m a catcher. I take pride in my framing. I take pride in saving runs,” he told The News. “I’ve been working my whole career for this, and I know a lot of guys that have also made careers out of it. So I’m not in favor of ABS.”

Of course, catchers are not the only ones who would be impacted by an automated zone.

The Yankees’ new southpaw, Carlos Rodon, said he would “love it,” as he believes it’s not hitter friendly. Rodon could get a chance to pitch with minor league ABS systems soon while rehabbing a left forearm strain.

“I mean, I’ve thrown numerous breaking balls in my career, and so have a ton of other guys in this room, that clip the bottom of the zone all the time that are called balls that end up at the catcher’s foot, but it was a strike on ABS,” he explained. “Same thing when I throw fastballs at the top of the zone. I’m notorious for doing that. It’s hard for an umpire to call that, and I totally understand that.”

But when told that such a program could harm receivers — especially the Yankees’ duo — Rodon agreed.

“For sure, it would hurt the catchers,” he acknowledged. “Now you’re looking for guys that just have unbelievable arms and just keep the ball in front of them.”

And then there are the umpires, who would be relegated to simply relaying calls under the full system. Rodon and Higashioka both praised the ability of MLB umpires, with Rodon calling the job “one of the hardest things to do in the world.”

“People don’t realize how good these umpires actually are,” Higashioka added. “You know, on TV, it’s easy to see the ball missed the strike zone by an inch, but it’s not easy to see that out there. And these guys are usually pretty darn good at it.”

It’s those excellent pitch framers who sometimes make the job harder. But the art form has become so coveted in recent years that teams have happily paid millions of dollars to light-hitting catchers.

In other words, ABS could damage the earning power of an entire category of the position’s players.

“Or maybe they just put more time into hitting and other things, and they improve there,” Rodon wondered. “We don’t know, because this is all hypothetical, right?”

Higashioka said he doesn’t worry about how much he’ll make — he’ll reach free agency in 2025, while Trevino will in 2026 – but 80-90% of his defensive work is devoted to framing.

If that were to lose value, Higashioka knows he’d have to improve other parts of his game with the newfound time.

“Gotta hit a little more,” he said with a laugh.