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The story
It was reported on August 31 that Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) will allow “PitchCom,” the wireless device pitchers and catchers use to relay signs, starting next season, and has already notified all 12 teams. Use will reportedly be optional rather than mandatory, with farm (minor-league) teams already running trials since partway through this season. On the 5ch Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ board, threads split over what “optional” actually means — some read it as “so they’re effectively not adopting it,” others as “players just get to choose whether to use it” — alongside pushback over whether NPB even needs to follow MLB’s lead, calls to prioritize introducing the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike) challenge system first, and practical questions like whether infielders would wear one too.
Nikkan Sports
[August 31, 2026, 8:17 PM]
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) has decided to introduce the sign-relay device “PitchCom” starting next season and has already notified all 12 teams, sources within the baseball world revealed on the 31st. Use is expected to be optional rather than mandatory. Farm teams had been running trials since partway through this season in preparation for a first-team rollout.
Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here
What people said
What really makes me think umpires are idiots: draw a line in the dirt with your bat and they lose it and eject you, but when Tatsumi did the head-pat thing they just let it slide.
It's literally the same kind of move.
Nippon-Ham relays signs by watching the mitt position, so they're fine either way
Miss again on the third and it has to be an automatic balk (OP typo'd it as "Borg")
That rule's insane if you ask me
So he's a cyborg now? (riffing on the "Borg" typo)
We will assimilate you.
Resistance is futile.
That's just absurd.
Do you even know what PitchCom is?
It's a communications device.
If old-school hand signs are easier for a team, there's no reason to force this on them
It's optional in MLB too — plenty of guys there don't actually use it
Guess that's a pipe dream though
Yomiuri, Hanshin, and SoftBank fans would fight it tooth and nail
I can already picture them screaming "You're taking away our advantage!" lol
Apparently the data shows Hanshin, DeNA, and Nippon-Ham benefit while Seibu and Hiroshima get the short end of the stick
Why act all high and mighty about it
Japanese baseball is nothing but players who couldn't cut it or get called up to the majors anyway
Speak Japanese, please (i.e. that made no sense)
Is that really okay?
It's fine, isn't it
Other sports are leaning more on machine judging too
Feels like this sport just keeps getting more and more of a hassle
They should hurry up and bring this to high school baseball too
The NFL's had something like this for 30 years already…
Korea, for instance, has AI calling everything, and even turns their All-Star Game into a bunting contest — they're putting their own spin on things
I think they do in MLB
That should boost pickoff success rates and make for a more thrilling game
Sounds like they could relay a pickoff throw straight to wherever the runner's taking his lead
Forget challenges, just go full automated ABS
That basically means they're not adopting it at all, right?
They're clearly saying they ARE adopting it
It's just that whether to use it is a free choice — get it?
That's just handing them our money
That thing's a piece of junk that breaks down constantly, so they probably won't use it
The hardware itself is simple enough — wouldn't they just have a domestic manufacturer build it?
It's not something you'd ever notice on TV or at the ballpark anyway, so nothing really changes
Background and Key Points of Debate
PitchCom is the wireless sign-relay device that saw widespread adoption in MLB starting around 2022, aimed partly at preventing sign stealing and partly at speeding up pace of play alongside the pitch clock. NPB’s farm teams have already been trialing it since partway through this season, so this notification isn’t a sudden policy shift but an extension of that groundwork. The thread’s main disagreement centered on how to interpret the word “optional” — some read it as “effectively not adopting it at all,” while others read it as “adoption itself is settled, and only whether individual players use it is a choice.” A number of posters also argued that the ABS challenge system should be a higher priority, though that’s a separate issue from this particular notification and isn’t part of the article’s primary source material. Details like whether infielders will be allowed to wear a device or whether this will extend to high school baseball remain unclear from this report alone.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “Pro Baseball to Adopt “PitchCom” Next Season — Use Reportedly Optional, All 12 Teams Notified.”
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