Opening Day is now less than one week away, and I know I’m not alone in saying: thank goodness for that! The World Baseball Classic was tremendous and spring training games are fun in their own way, but I think we’re all ready for some meaningful regular season baseball.
Alas, there are still six days of Grapefruit League and Cactus League games to go. Players are going to use this week as one final tune-up for the regular season while coaches and general managers evaluate their talent and make decisions about the final roster spots. That’s how it works the final week of every spring.
Players and coaches aren’t the only ones working during spring through, however. The umpires are working too. They’re getting themselves back into game shape, meaning tracking pitches behind the plate and sharpening their eyes and ears for bang-bang plays. These guys don’t just roll out of bed and call games, you know.
Angels wunderkind Mike Trout, the undisputed best player in baseball, has a pretty good idea for helping umpires in spring training. Here’s what he told ESPN’s Buster Olney over the weekend:
It was during one of those chats with a veteran umpire earlier this spring that Trout offered a thought: As the experienced umpires work their way back into game shape in spring training, just as the players do, why not have them work five or six innings and turn over the last innings to umpires who would normally work minor league games on back fields?
The idea is simple, but it has a lot of helpful layers, beyond allowing an older plate umpire a little more time to work into condition to see 350 or so pitches in a given game. It is extraordinarily difficult for young umpires to advance in the industry because there is little annual turnover among umpires in the big leagues. For a young umpire slated for Class A or AA to get a few innings in a major league exhibition -- with the packed ballpark and major league players -- would be something of a reward, as it is for the minor league players.
As an added bonus, MLB’s executives would get a chance to evaluate up-and-coming young umpires in games that more closely resemble major league competition. It’s one thing for a Double-A ump to blow a call and get some lip from minor leaguers. It’s another to botch a call in a spring training game and have a 10-year big league veteran (and his manager!) give you the business.
Aside from logistical issues (travel, expenses, etc.), it’s tough to come up with a negative to Trout’s idea. The players don’t jump right back into game action, meaning full nine-inning games day after day after day, so why should umpires? Anything that can help them better prepare for the season is a-okay with me.