Automated strike zone does not need a plate umpire getting hit in the head by fouls.

It's really pretty disgraceful even for people insulated in baseball think who don't give a second thought to wanting the plate umpire to stand behind the catcher when the ump is not calling balls and strikes. Why do they want that? Because it makes the automated strike zone seem more like the "real thing". They ignore the fact that a human being will continue to get pounded with foul balls when he doesn't even need to be there. And all for appearances. They want the plate umpire told whether the pitch is a ball or a strike sp that the umpire can make the gesture for fan satisfaction.

‘We’re Lab Rats’: A Baseball League Where Stealing First Is O.K.
The Atlantic League has become an M.L.B. testing ground for ideas that could make the game livelier. Experiments include larger bases and an automated strike zone.

By Tyler Kepner Aug. 2, 2019 nytimes.com

The automated strike zone — perhaps the most radical of the experiments — made its debut at the Atlantic League All-Star Game last month, and in New Britain on Tuesday. It works this way: M.L.B.’s TrackMan radar system judges each pitch and sends the call — “Ball!” or “Strike!” in a male voice — through a wireless earpiece to the home plate umpire, who simply repeats the call ...

Rick White, the president of the Atlantic League and a former M.L.B. official, said the changes are intended partly to increase safety and speed up games.
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Irony and hypocrisy in perfect harmony.

Maybe the umpire and catcher are not in much danger? Would you put your head in harm's way?

All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Major League Baseball Players

JAMA Intern Med. Published online July 22, 2019 jamanetwork.com

We recently found lower mortality rates among MLB players overall and for certain specific causes compared with National Football League players, all of whom had playing careers of 5 years or longer.4 To better understand risks compared with the general public, we examined mortality rates among MLB players, including specific causes of death and differences by career length and position...
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Plow through it yourself but I have this view:

It's about guys who played a while ago and died in 1979 or later. If a guy died in 1990 at age 60 he played mostly in the 1950s.

I think there is a significant increase in punishment absorbed by catchers in recent seasons. Increased exit velo can go backwards into their heads. And more often. In other words:

I don't think that Yogi Berra took nearly as much punishment as Gary Sanchez does today. Same goes for plate umpires, who could easily be moved behind a protective screen or behind the pitcher.