Over the past few years, fans, players, and media have become more aware than ever of poor umpiring throughout Major League Baseball thanks to technology that can quickly show whether calls are correct or incorrect. And New York Yankees legend Nick Swisher thinks it’s time we use that technology to make sure the best umpires are calling games.
Nick Swisher thinks that just like athletes, umpires should be held responsible for the way that they perform.
“Listen, man, there’s some systems in place that we have as athletes,” Swisher told Fox News during a recent interview. “If you don’t post [good stats], prepare and compete properly at the big league level, you get demoted to the minor leagues. So, I think the same should be for umpires as well. Why should you not want to have a tier system, just like what Max Scherzer was saying? I thought there was a lot of validity to that.”
Swisher is referring to a plan from Scherzer that MLB should “rank” umpires using the electronic strike zone that is currently being tested in Triple-A this year, where pitchers and hitters can challenge balls and strikes called. But regardless of how it’s done, Swisher is not happy with current umpires and thinks that there needs to be some accountability.
“You can’t just show up to work and just go through the motions,” Swisher added. “That’s not acceptable. Nowadays, you got guys’ careers on the line and there’s a lot of money in each game.”
We’ll have to see what changes are made.
[Fox News]
