ARLINGTON, Texas — Bryce Harper has a new idea for baseball.
The Phillies star, while talking before the All-Star Game in Texas, mentioned a challenge system for balls and strikes that uses ABS and is already in Triple-A. He thinks it could work “if it’s done the right way.” But he also has another thought.
“I enjoy the human aspect of the game,” Harper said on Monday. “It just has to be done correctly, though I don’t know how.”
Harper believes good umpires should get paid more and work more games behind the plate. Even without a challenge system, having top umpires call balls and strikes would improve baseball .
Improving Umpire Performance:
Umpires are graded by the league office, led by Joe Torre. Better grades mean more postseason games. If top umpires worked more often behind the plate, those who struggle with calling balls and strikes might work less or not at all.
A pay system based on these grades is an interesting idea too. Would it push weaker umpires to get better? Maybe. Umpires always want to make correct calls; no one wants to be bad at their job.
Fans might think this idea sounds promising but wonder if it will really help.
Back in May, Harper was ejected in the first inning for arguing about balls and strikes. Afterward, he said: “I wasn’t trying to get thrown out. Was just having a conversation. There are guys who are professionals in this league… I guess [home plate umpire Brian Walsh] didn’t understand it.”
Under Harper’s plan, Walsh likely wouldn’t have been behind the plate since he’s new and hasn’t scored well yet. This change might not fix everything but encouraging improvement never hurts.
What do you think? Should we pay good umpires more?
