Good catching or bad umpiring

[S Spiff]

I'm sure he's a terrific catcher, but I don't see anything in those three pitches that justifies the missed calls. That is an extremely tough at bat to take.

I also question whether expanding his zone to make contact with those those pitches is going to be a winning strategy for a hitter in the long term. Unless you're Kreskin, you're not just expanding it to get to the low and away pitch, you're expanding it in all dimensions, right? Unless you are Vlad Guerrero, that is asking a lot of someone facing major league pitching.

 

[El Oso]

... bad calls...or...
because I take responsibility as a hitter~ this perspective

After the first called strike
Would have already told me where the umpire's mindset is.

The second called strike would prove that.

For sure I would have been attacking that third one.


No excuse for looking at strike three.
Pay attention and learn or go sit down.

Most of the time when dealing with lower level umpires where their zone can be THAT bad I would agree but at that level, the top of the top, you have to think that the ump just make a bad call on the first one. You can't expect it to happen 3 times in a row. MLB players don't expect his zone to be that bad 3 times in a row. That's an outlier, hence why the video exists and is so popular. It's very unusual for a MLB ump to miss strike/ball calls 3 times in a row. And as it happens, after that at bat, his zone reverted to a more normal zone. He did not call the rest of the game like that so as a hitter, it would have been a mistake to think that his zone would be like that for the rest of the game and swing wildly accordingly.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Could be worse. Could have say been G5 of the 1997 NLCS. Livan Herndez pitched great but got a huge assist from Eric Gregg and a very generous strike zone and the Braves hitters did in fact "expand" the zone. Was a perfect storm leading to a 15 K gem from Hernadez.

 

[Gambler Bob]

Do you really want a by-the-book strike zone called by a robot? I do not. I don't think the hitters would either

I would absolutely like to see a robot call the strike zone in the MLB.

 

[El Oso]

I would absolutely like to see a robot call the strike zone in the MLB.

I would love to hear the argument against it. The mental gymnastics required for preferring bad calls over good calls would be humorous and highly entertaining.

 

[MoJo]

I would love to hear the argument against it. The mental gymnastics required for preferring bad calls over good calls would be humorous and highly entertaining.

Yep. The ump defenders must be getting pretty tired with all the typing and acrobatics of defending so much BS.
MLB #2 Dan Bellino needs to be fired.

 

[radness]

Most of the time when dealing with lower level umpires where their zone can be THAT bad I would agree but at that level, the top of the top, you have to think that the ump just make a bad call on the first one. You can't expect it to happen 3 times in a row. MLB players don't expect his zone to be that bad 3 times in a row. That's an outlier, hence why the video exists and is so popular. It's very unusual for a MLB ump to miss strike/ball calls 3 times in a row. And as it happens, after that at bat, his zone reverted to a more normal zone. He did not call the rest of the game like that so as a hitter, it would have been a mistake to think that his zone would be like that for the rest of the game and swing wildly accordingly.

Holy mackerel that appears that you're justifying an MLB player striking out looking...
Nope not going to put that on the umpire!

Especially
If at that level the batter could not recognize the Umpire had an overly large Strike Zone area during his at-bat and make an adjustment by that third pitch they need to go sit down.

 

[radness]

Yep. The ump defenders must be getting pretty tired with all the typing and acrobatics of defending so much BS.
MLB #2 Dan Bellino needs to be fired.

The unfortunate part about that debate of firing him is that umpires are wrong enough times that we know they are not going to be 100% correct.

So your standpoint is that a human being has to be perfect.
Of which
That has never been part of the game.

It is not defending umpires it is acknowledging that it is inconsistent and it always has been.

That in itself adds an extra element to the game.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Could be worse. Could have say been G5 of the 1997 NLCS. Livan Herndez pitched great but got a huge assist from Eric Gregg and a very generous strike zone and the Braves hitters did in fact "expand" the zone. Was a perfect storm leading to a 15 K gem from Hernadez.

Half of his Ks came on pitches 18" off the plate. That was the worst called game I have ever seen in my life.

Here's the thing about video umpiring, or robots. Pitchers used to hate the pitch Trax in some stadiums. In fact, I remember Kurt Schilling taking a bat to one at Fenway Park because he was losing calls off the plate. I'd prefer it for balls and strikes. It would take out any ambiguity and the batters couldn't complain. The only subjective piece would be the check swing calls.

 

[Dabears17]

MLB umpires earn $130,000 to $350,000 a year, plus $340 per diem. They should be doing better.

Last time I watched a lot of baseball was my 2005 White Sox. Only reason I watch baseball at all is my DD's favorite player since 2015 is Joc Pederson so she turns on his games when he is playing (though I forbade her from watching him when he played for the Flubs).