Pitcher Who Hates Robot Umps Gets Trolled in Game

Major League Baseball is experimenting with robot umpires during this spring season, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer has made clear he is not a fan. That set the stage for a little trolling from an ex-teammate during a game on Sunday. As MLB.com recounts:

• Scherzer's first pitch of the game was pretty much right down the middle, an easy called strike from the (human) home-plate ump. Batter Trea Turner of the Phillies nonetheless signaled for a robot challenge by tapping his helmet. Watch the moment here, as Turner doesn't try too hard to suppress his grin.
• "I just wanted to see his eyes roll," said Turner afterward. As expected, the robot ump confirmed the pitch was a strike.

• "Trea's obviously one of my favorite teammates of all time," Scherzer told Sportsnet after the game. (The two played together for years on the Washington Nationals.) "We'll have a good laugh about it."
• As the Athletic notes, Scherzer was less jokey last week when asked about the Automatic Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system. "We're humans," he said. "Can we just be judged by humans?" His comments made headlines, setting the stage for Turner's prank. If all goes well with ABS, it could arrive in regular-season games in 2026, notes CBS Sports.

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