The automatic ball-strike system (ABS), dubbed the “robot referee,” will be applied to the KBO League this season. Ball and strike are divided using a camera installed at a baseball stadium, rather than the conventional method arbitrarily determined by the referee. The team identifies the location and trajectory of the ball, and when the result is delivered through earphones, the referee listens to the ball and makes a decision as it is.
According to the enforcement regulations announced by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), it is judged as a strike only when the upper and lower height standards are met at the middle and end of the home plate. 56.35% of the player’s height and 27.64% of the player’s height are applied at the top. For a player who is 1m80cm tall, the top is 101.43cm, the bottom is 49.75cm, and the top and bottom 1m90cm are 107.7cm and 52.52cm, respectively. The left-right standard is applied to the home plate (43.18cm), and it is declared a strike if any part is brushed.
On the spot, it is said that a change ball with a large movement on the home plate will be advantageous. Even if the catcher falls low at the moment of his catch, the umpire’s hand can rise as long as he passes the ABS strike-based sensor point. Yang Hyeon-jong (KIA Tigers), who has 168 wins in the KBO League, predicted that a curve (falling into a bell) would be the most advantageous. “I haven’t thrown curves often, but I think I have to increase the curve ratio compared to last year to survive,” Yang said. “Wouldn’t it be a little advantageous for pitchers who throw curves as second pitches like Kwak Bin (Doosan Bears) or Park Se-woong (Lotte Giants)? Curve is the biggest point of ABS introduction.” According to Sports2I, a baseball statistics company, Yang’s curve ball usage rate last season was 2.5 percent compared to the total pitches.
As the value of the curve is expected to increase, more attention is paid to “Korean Monster” Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles). ABS is not used in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Japanese professional baseball (NPB). Ryu Hyun-jin, who signed a contract with Hanwha on the 22nd and chose to return to the KBO League, must now adapt to ABS. It’s not bad considering that he has greatly improved his curve power. According to MLB statistics site Baseball Servant, Ryu Hyun-jin’s curve ratio last year was 17.1%, down 3.9 percentage points (p) from the previous year. Although the proportion decreased slightly, the swing and miss ratio improved significantly from 13.3% to 35.2%.
Among MLB pitchers who threw at least 100 pitches, the “vertical movement” ranked first with 72.6 inches (1 meter and 84.4 centimeters). Unlike fastballs, which require backspins, curves are affected by topspins. The fact that the vertical movement of the ball sinks while flying can be interpreted as the difference between the vertex and the focal point.
If the ball type that is advantageous for ABS is curveball, Ryu is an optimized pitcher for that. In other words, Ryu is adding one weapon to his top-notch skills. “I think we need to figure out the (strike) zone first. That’s the first part,” Ryu said, expressing confidence. “If I have a clue, I think I will adjust to (ABS).”
BY: 메이저 토토사이트