Alejandro Kirk won't be a fan of the latest news on automatic strike zone tests

Major League Baseball has introduced so many rule changes that it can be hard keeping up with all of them. The biggest changes are the pitch timer and the introduction of a "free" runner at second base in regular season extra-inning games. In any event, more changes to the sport are coming, and Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk is sure to be impacted.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who has been responsible for shepherding many of the changes through his sport, let it be known during a recent media appearance that an automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system will be introduced during spring training in a few months.

The challenge system has been rolled out in the minor leagues and is designed to get more pitches called accurately by cutting down on catchers stealing strikes. The very definition of a catcher's job description may be changing as the importance of pitch framing and stealing strikes becomes less important.

“There is going to be a test at the Major League level during spring training next year, we are going to test the challenge system with big league players,” Manfred, who plans to step down shortly after the 2028 regular season, told Jack Curry of the YES Network.

Manfred made it clear that MLB isn't getting rid of the umpires for this season (although probably in the not-too-distant future). Instead, this latest iteration would give each team a certain number of challenges that they can use during a game on borderline pitches. Challenges must be called in real time.

Will it totally outlaw the practice of pitch framing? No. In fact, stealing strikes can still occur but maybe not during pitches when the result of a game is hanging in the balance (assuming the opposing team calls for a challenge).

Alejandro Kirk won't be a fan of the latest news on automatic strike zone tests

Alejandro Kirk is obviously a fan favorite for many Blue Jays followers. Who could forget Kirk slashing .375/.400/.583 in 25 plate appearances towards the tail end of the 2020 Blue Jays season? In the intervening years, Kirk has been plenty serviceable, but not near the heights of the pandemic season. His defense has told a much more rosy story and one that Kirk has used to his benefit.

Per Baseball Savant, Kirk converted 49.8% of non-swing pitches into called strikes this season. Kirk's framing also received high praise through Baseball Savant’s measure of runs saved (Catcher Framing Runs). That places Kirk in the top 10 and among such catchers as Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants and Austin Hedges of the Cleveland Guardians. All of this sounds pretty good, but it may not be as big of a factor once the challenge system is implemented.

It feels like the importance of pitch framing has split baseball fans into one of two camps. One camp seems to be famously represented by Blue Jays broadcaster and former catcher Buck Martinez, who has observed how it hinders a catcher's mobility when trying to block balls in the dirt. These people point to how those same catchers are more vulnerable to such things as increased stolen bases and passed balls.

In a regular season game against the Minnesota Twins this season, Martinez exclaimed, "... the umpires have to call the ball where it crosses the plate, and I just think that this (framing) stuff is so overdone it's really hurting catchers a lot."

The other camp seems to be populated by many of the game's head honchos, including those on coaching staffs and front offices. Without delving into all the minutiae, framing is a major tenet of the analytics playbook that has been exhaustively studied and proven to benefit not only players but also teams. FanGraphs has done some really interesting work on the subject.

What seems clear is that a handful of catchers are really skilled at what they do behind the plate and every little bit counts. Some have used these skills to stick in the majors. Jose Trevino of the Yankees sports a career 75 OPS+, but his stout defense and elite skills behind the plate have allowed him to stick around for a long time.

The Blue Jays clearly value this aspect of Kirk's game, and he'll go into 2025 looking to show everyone that he is capable of carrying the lion's share of opportunities behind the plate.

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