With automated ball-strike technology available, MLB umpires are under more pressure and scrutiny than ever.
And while home-plate umpires are steadily improving, any missed call causes discourse, with many calling for a complete switch to an automated ball-strike system.
However, Orioles 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey disagrees, pointing to where umpires are forced to set up behind catchers.
“I don’t want to see us lose umpires because they’re part of the game. Human error has always been a little bit part of the game,” he said on Glenn Clark Radio June 5. “Having umpires that can call balls and strikes and be in a position behind home plate where they can do that would improve the ball-strike calling.”
Dempsey explained why he blames much of the umpires’ shortcomings on catchers.
“Catchers are setting up so far behind home plate that they’re making it a lot tougher on umpires to call corner pitches strikes,” he said, “so they’re expanding the strike zone in some respects just to make sure that they don’t get one wrong.”
This is not the only issue Dempsey has with modern-day catchers, though, as he believes their framing techniques and stances are hurting their teams and the game itself.
“Everybody’s version of framing a pitch is a lot different,” Dempsey said. “Pitch on the outside corner, I used to bend my wrist and pull my hand back and turn it toward the inside of the plate. Now, they’re taking these big arm swings. … It’s a lot different than it was in the old days.”
Catchers have been widely criticized for being too obvious and exaggerated with their framing. They are a major cause of catcher interferences and injuries, Dempsey said. The total number of catcher interferences has more than doubled in the last five years, with there being 41 in 2018 and 96 in 2023, according to Sports Info Solutions.
From 1969 — the year Dempsey played his first major league game — to 2023, the number of stolen bases in a season increased from 1,850 to 3,500, according to Baseball Almanac. However, while the passed ball/wild pitch rate hit a high point in 2021, it plummeted to one of its lowest points in years in 2023, according to Baseball America.
The abundance of stolen bases in 2023 could be a result of the MLB’s recent rule changes, including introducing the pitch timer, limiting disengagements per plate appearance and increasing the size of bases.
Still, Dempsey believes the one-knee stance is being used too frequently by catchers, hurting their ability to block pitches and control the running game.
“Everybody goes to the one-knee [stance],” he said, “I went to the one-knee, but I never did it in two-strike situations or with anybody on base, because you cannot afford to put guys in scoring position like they’re doing in baseball today.”
For more from Dempsey, listen to the full interview here:
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