ESPN To Increase K-Zone's On-Screen Presence During MLB Broadcasts This Season

ESPN will have its on-screen K-Zone technology up and running for most pitches this MLB season, said ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer for MLB Phil Orlins. The technology is an on-screen box that stays over the strike zone when a batter is at the plate, showing viewers if a pitch should have been called a strike or a ball. It is different from Turner Sports’ strike-zone technology, which stays in the corner of the screen. The K-Zone technology has been around for more than a decade, and ESPN has used it live since '11. This season, though, its use will increase dramatically, making it a ubiquitous part of ESPN’s MLB productions. The net will have it on screen for most pitches, Orlins said. “When you look at the viewing experience with K-Zone, it’s hard to come up with a more important differentiator than that,” he said. ESPN also is committed to three-person booths this season. The “Sunday Night Baseball” booth will have Dan Shulman, Curt Schilling and John Kruk, with Buster Olney reporting. ESPN’s Monday night booth will have Dave O’Brien, Mark Mulder and Aaron Boone for the first half of the season and Dallas Braden for the second half; while Wednesday night’s booth will have Jon Sciambi, Rick Sutcliffe and Doug Glanville.