Cubs' Maddon wants electronic monitoring for check swings

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon doesn't want umpires to be making calls on check swings.

Maddon expressed his frustrations after another Cubs loss Saturday; a check-swing call on Kyle Schwarber in the bottom of the ninth ended the game as Chicago was mounting a rally with the tying run on third and the winning run on second.

"You see the check swing where the hands (don't move) - to me that's not a swing," Maddon said, according to Bradford Doolittle of ESPN. "It's what you do with the barrel (of the bat). Everybody's worried about an electronic strike zone. I want an electronic method to control a check swing.

"That would be much more interesting. I would prefer that. Let the umpires call that game like they always do, but let's figure out a way to control check swings. I've got ideas on that, too."

Schwarber went into a frenzy following the call, earning an ejection while teammate Javier Baez had to restrain him from confronting the third-base umpire.

Asked about his manager's thoughts on an electronic alternative, Schwarber wasn't sure how it would work.

"I don't know how you can do that," he said. "I just didn't like the way it ended, (after) grinding out an at-bat against him. It was a big situation right there. I worked him. You've got to battle. I thought I didn't go, and he thought I did."

With the loss, Chicago dropped to a disappointing 5-9 on the season and currently sits last in the NL Central.