In order to prevent the sort of alleged sign stealing that has cast a shadow over the Houston Astros’ World Series victory in 2017, Major League Baseball is considering introducing new on-field technology that could include lights in the pitcher’s mound.
In addition to the lights in the mound, which would be controlled by the catcher using a device and only be seen by the pitcher, MLB is also working on a wearable random-number generator that would encode pitcher-catcher communication, according to Yahoo.
Earpieces allowing pitchers and catchers to communicate directly have already been tested in the minors, but players wearing the prototype devices reportedly found them distracting and uncomfortable.
“This paranoia, industry-wide, that came about as a result of technology and using technology to steal signs, I think that accelerated those talks about some sort of development of a communication device between pitcher and catcher,” a league source told the publication.
In addition to helping pitchers and catchers communicate more covertly, the goal of the technology would be to speed up the communication process and eliminate the lengthy process of communicating signs, therefore speeding up pacing play and reducing the length of games.
If this all sounds like it’s a bit too much to fathom, don’t worry. There is still much that has to be done before any of these potential changes or technologies could be implemented.
“There’s real testing that needs to take place with these things, first and foremost, in terms of safety and then also the integrity of the devices and then the impact that they’re gonna have,” a league source told Yahoo. “Is it going to speed the game up? Is it going to slow it down? How is it going to change the game? [But] I think we will have a technological solution at some point.”
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