WaPo: Robo Ump Test Drive

The Blue Crabs let me test out the system before “Fourth of July Do-Over Night” on Aug. 3, about a month before the end of the Atlantic League regular season. Left-hander Tommy Thorpe threw a bullpen to Josh McAdams while I crouched behind the plate wearing an earpiece but no protective gear.

It was me, a former youth baseball catcher and Little League umpire, going head to head with ABS, the RADAR-enabled software that’s the basis for most advanced statistics in Major League Baseball, like exit velocity, launch angle and spin rate. It’s also used to grade umpires.

CBSSports: Dodgers’ Justin Turner defends Phillies pitcher who plunked him, telling umpire he shouldn’t be ejected

After Verdugo homered to make the score 12-1, Yacksel Rios hit Turner in the leg with an 84 mph breaking ball and was immediately ejected by legendary blowhard Doug Eddings. Turner started taking off his gloves and shinguard, then turned around and was confused to find Rios had been ejected. The batter (and at least one other Dodger in the dugout) joined Gabe Kapler, Realmuto et al in arguing with the umpire on the pitcher’s behalf!