Major League Baseball's umpires have never been under more public scrutiny than they are in in the modern era, and slow-motion replay and the K-Zone on broadcasts are the biggest reasons why. Every pitch that doesn't align with the white box on your screen immediately leads to calls for automated strike zones and the ability to challenge ball and strike calls from fans. 

But the league's players may not be quite ready to make that jump, especially as it relates to the challenge system. 

ESPN's Tim Kurkjian discussed that topic during an appearance on "Pardon The Interruption" on Tuesday afternoon, and said players don't fully trust themselves to be able to challenge pitches on the spot and get it right.

As Kurkjian explained, players believe they may not know the strike zone as well as they think they do and do not want the immediate pressure and responsibility of having to make a call to challenge a pitch. He said some players found in spring training, when challenges were allowed on a test basis, that the umpires were better than they originally thought.

A recent players poll in The Athletic found that two-thirds of those surveyed did not want to see an automated strike zone in the league. 

While there might be some obviously missed calls, a lot of the backlash that is directed toward umpires now is from fans, and it is largely based on the K-zone that appears on TV or the pitch location marker on MLB and ESPN's gamecast functions. But it's also worth pointing out those systems are not entirely accurate, and currently only exist for entertainment purposes. 

The automated system and challenges might end up in the Major Leagues sooner rather than later, but it might be more popular with fans than the players themselves. At least in the beginning.