If you know MLB, then you know the league has never shied away from embracing technological advancements. Just look at the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, which was introduced at the start of the ongoing season to allow teams to challenge home-plate umpires’ ball-and-strike calls. Similarly, about a decade ago, MLB approved the use of iPads in clubhouses and dugouts to give teams greater access to data and video. But if only they had known how it would fare. Eventually, they had to jump into action to course-correct, and right after that, a Mets veteran came out with a serious claim.

“The Mets were actually the team, the main team, that got cracked down on,” Mets veteran Adam Ottavino said, as per SleeperMets on X. “They had an AI program that was very expensive, apparently, and they were bragging about it a little bit early on in this — the year. Some of the coaches that I know were talking about it from around the league, and they had basically an AI program helping them pick pitches, and I think some other stuff.

“But MLB got wind of it and nipped that right in the bud, so apparently they weren’t the only team, but I knew about it from the Mets angle. They tried to throw some money at the situation. Steve ponied up for, I think this program from what I heard was several hundred thousand dollars to have.”

If reports are anything to go by, the Mets are among the teams that exploited a loophole to use artificial intelligence for in-game decision-making. So as the major leagues prepared to begin the second half of the season, MLB banned the practice effective Wednesday.

The Athletic reported on July 17, MLB found out that some teams had engaged in using the league-issued dugout iPads “beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.”

As expected, the memo for the crackdown came from MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Morgan Sword to general managers, assistant GMs and video coordinators.

“In many cases, the custom tab had expanded the use of the dugout iPads beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches,” Sword wrote in a June 11 memo.

These iPads were first introduced to the league about a decade ago, with their use tightly regulated until 2020. The restrictions were in place for good reason, given the sign-stealing scandals that had rocked the sport. Then, on March 21, MLB announced that players would be allowed to view in-game video on iPads in the dugout or bullpen during games. It marked the first time the league had permitted such access.

As you would imagine, this came with restrictions too, where the players could only use the app put on their device, and they had zero access to the internet for browsing or social media or any similar activity. Per the rules, even the non-field personnel had no grounds to enter the dugout during the game in order to restrict any input into the iPads while the game was in progress.

Naturally, for something that came with as many restrictions as this, at some point the players and teams pushed for relaxing some of the restrictions, and soon enough the league gave in. The players and the teams now had the luxury to customize their tabs. So when this season began, the iPads came with three tabs.

Tab 1 – MLB-provided Statcast data and multiple video angles.

Tab 2- Data related to ABS.

Tab 3 – It is known as the “Custom Tab,” which carries a team’s specialized data.

Coming back to MLB’s crackdown, pitch calling is speculated to be one of the reasons for this move. During live games, some teams leveraged generative AI by supplying it with in-game data, allowing the models to better predict upcoming pitches and recommend pitch choices. Notably, the Miami Marlins have been the team that has spearheaded the trend of calling pitches from the dugout. But beyond that, it is difficult to deduce how many teams are doing the same.

“Gotta stop the cheating before there’s cheating now,” one front office executive said.

Given that the change has come midseason, it has been on the best receiving end.

Takes on the crackdown

“It’s caused quite the stir,” one high-ranking official of an MLB team’s research and development department remarked.

The development caught the attention of even the most analytics-oriented front offices, with many around the industry questioning how AI could reshape decisions traditionally made by managers and coaches, including pitch calling and lineup changes.

“It hasn’t impacted us at all, but I know AI is entering our arena for sure,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s entering everyone’s arena. You better get on it, or you’re going to get rolled over by it.”

Jack Lambert, director of baseball operations at Driveline Baseball, also shared his thoughts on the impact pitch calling will have now.

“With someone live-scoring the game, teams could chart pitch type and location to get dynamically updating game plans,” Lambert noted. “Those plans could determine if their approach at the plate should change as they face the lineup a second (or) third time in the game, and could also be applied to live pitch-calling.”

For now, however, MLB has made its stance clear, and the veteran’s claims have only reinforced the scrutiny surrounding how far teams should be allowed to go in pursuit of an advantage.