KBO League confirms introduction of robot referees Pitch Clock will be discussed again after pilot operation.
Robot referee introduced in high school baseball.
‘Robot referees’ will be introduced in the KBO League in the 2024 season. The pitch clock, which was expected to be introduced together, was decided to be discussed again after pilot operation.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on the 11th that it held the first board of directors meeting in 2024 at the Baseball Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul and discussed new baseball regulations to be introduced for the new season.
The introduction of the Automatic Pitching System (ABS), which was the biggest concern, was confirmed. The KBO has been promoting the introduction of ABS to maintain consistency in the strike zone, increase reliability of judgments, and enable faster game operations.
ABS, referred to as ‘robot referee’, has not yet been introduced in the world’s top leagues, Major League Baseball and Japanese professional baseball. The introduction of robot referees in the KBO League is expected to have a significant impact on leagues in other countries.
The base size of the KBO League will be expanded.
On the other hand, the introduction of the ‘pitch clock’, which limits the preparation time of pitchers and batters, was postponed for a while.
KBO decided to conduct a pilot operation of the pitch clock in the first half of the year and then decide whether to apply it from the second half of the year. The purpose of this is to ensure that players have sufficient time to adapt to actual games.
The KBO explained, “This decision was made to minimize confusion if the system is introduced and to ensure smooth play.”
However, in the Futures League (2nd team), a pitch clock will be introduced from the first half of the season.
The KBO plans to install related equipment in each stadium across the country in February and prepare for introduction through timekeeper training.
The introduction of base size expansion and defensive shift restrictions has been confirmed. 카지노사이트랭크
Increasing the size of the base is intended to reduce injuries among players and increase attempts to steal bases, thereby providing more exciting play.
Limiting defensive shifts is also intended to encourage more aggressive play while strengthening defensive capabilities.
The introduction of overtime penalty kicks has been put on hold for now.
Penalty shooting has already been implemented in the Futures League from 2022. However, it was decided to re-discuss its introduction in the KBO League based on opinions from the field. This decision took into account the fact that there have already been many institutional changes.
In addition, new regulations were established to prevent the ‘LG Oh Ji-hwan case’. This clearly defines the status of non-FA multi-year contract players.
Previously, Oh Ji-hwan signed a non-FA multi-year contract with his team LG Twins ahead of the 2023 season, but LG terminated the contract with Oh Ji-hwan after the season and had him apply for free agency. It was a kind of ‘trick’ to minimize power leakage in the second draft, etc. by securing additional protected players.
Accordingly, the KBO decided that players with multi-year contracts cannot acquire FA qualifications during the contract period and will only approve FA qualifications if the contract ends in the current year.
Also, in the future, if a club signs a multi-year contract with a non-FA player, the KBO must submit the contract by the day after the official announcement. Failure to submit a contract within the deadline is considered an act of disturbing the contract order, and sanctions are reviewed by the Rewards and Punishments Committee.
Meanwhile, KBO decided to add the Korean Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) to the bonus (merit) payment items for players. On the other hand, it was decided to prohibit practices such as paying bonuses to players through the manager’s personal funds rather than the club. 고스톱
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