Plus base-stealing tips from a speedy Royals rookie, a rare starting pitcher win and more timely and timeless elements of baseball.

On a special episode (first released on March 21, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: Technology and tradition are converging this spring training as AI-based umpires are tried out as part of MLB's ...

Manfred did note MLB umpires are "more receptive" to the robot-style system if it were to be adopted, but the next round of ...

And there are potentially more disruptive changes on the horizon ... Start with the 56 candidates at MLB Umpire Prospect Development Camp. This is a training ground that did not exist a few ...

In an interview with The New York Times, Manfred also forecasted fans getting more access to game broadcasts after the 2028 ...

Wendelstedt was “coherent, speaking,” according to crew chief Todd Tichenor. The remainder of the game was played with three ...

While the use of the ABS challenge system during spring training seemed to go smoothly, it does not have a unanimously positive rating among MLB players ... to challenge an umpire's call with ...

MLB umpire Mark Ripperger is receiving praise for how he called a recent game. Ripperger was behind home plate for Thursday's game between the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins.

The potential ball-strike earthquake comes in the wake of several other major MLB rule changes. They include ... And now an umpire can call a trail runner out and end a rarely used but ingenious ...

Baseball has been undergoing some pretty dramatic changes. The sport may still be timeless in a sense, but it is now timed. Spring training this year has featured another seismic twist: the chance for ...

For his sake, veteran MLB umpire John Bacon may want to avoid ... Although the league tested the ABS in spring training, that rule change didn’t carry over to the regular season.