Good catching or bad umpiring

[El Oso]

Nick Swisher made a career out of "knowing the strike zone and not expanding it". He had a 12 year career where he was 13% better than the average MLB hitter based on OPS+. He said he'd even take pitches he knew were bordeline strikes becasue he knew he couldn't do anything with them and would rather take a chance that they'd be called a ball. Changing his approach to "adjust" to the strike zone of the umpire on that particular day would have required a complete change in hitting philosophy of someone who had a pretty successful MLB career.

Yes the "learn to adjust" mantra is fine for amateur softball players but it's not a good idea for MLB players to follow. It's apples to oranges.

 

[radness]

Might as well get comfortable on the bench if you're not going to use your bat...

 

[chinamigarden]

Nick Swisher made a career out of "knowing the strike zone and not expanding it". He had a 12 year career where he was 13% better than the average MLB hitter based on OPS+. He said he'd even take pitches he knew were bordeline strikes becasue he knew he couldn't do anything with them and would rather take a chance that they'd be called a ball. Changing his approach to "adjust" to the strike zone of the umpire on that particular day would have required a complete change in hitting philosophy of someone who had a pretty successful MLB career.

I’ll bet he adjusted on a regular basis. All mlb players do. Do you think the umps today are any worse then they were at any time in history? Or do we as fans just have a box on the screen now that tells us if it’s a good or bad call. DiMaggio and Gwynn and all the other historically high walk to K ratio players had to adjust. Fans didn’t know because they didn’t have a box

As for Nick Swisher, he had several years in his career with more Ks then hits and never once had more walks then Ks. His knowledge of the strikes zone might have been high, but you cant
Tell by the results.

 

[EdLovrich]

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.

Bring in the robots, there has to be robots. I can't wait for the called 3rd strike/past ball.

For everyone who thinks robo-ump is the answer.....have you SEEN what happened in the Atlantic League last year?!!?

 

[radness]

For everyone who thinks robo-ump is the answer.....have you SEEN what happened in the Atlantic League last year?!!?

Appears The difference with Robo-ump is that people will be yelling at a computer instead of a human
Takes the predicament off of the umpire!

CLEARLY PUTS THE RESPONSIBILTY ON THE BATTER...
Where it should be!
Where it is already!

Responsibility at the plate with the bat in our hand!
(we get more than one pitch to enforce that responsibility)


CRUSH THE BALL

 

[Travis Lassiter]

Catcher did a good job!

 

[CoachJD]

My first comment is I would find it hard to call a strike when the catcher is moving his glove that much.

I'm curious about how accurate the square box is for showing the strike in 3 dimensions and where it considers the ball having crossed the plate. The first pitch may have been close enough to think about calling a strike if the catcher hadn't moved his glove.

My guess is fairly accurate. This is the best I can do with the frames in the twitter video.

First two are consecutive frames, I think. I couldn't find one in between.

Third one shows where it showed the ball crossing. It's definitely lower than in the first frame (where the ball appears to be in front of the plate still), but higher than the frame where he catches it.

And yes, this is ridiculous "framing." He moves his glove at least a foot up into the zone.

 

[CoachJD]

close enough for me.. take a cut and try to foul one off

Two of those pitches were in the left-handed batter's box.

 

[radness]

Two of those pitches were in the left-handed batter's box.

The point to me isn't where the pitch is,
*the point is that umpires are inconsistent and call pitches that others dont think are strikes 'strikes'.
~That makes them strikes!
( a non arguable call by the official)
( and the strike zone area is always different)
_____________________
The next point to be made is whether or not people think batters should swing at pitches called strikes they may not like.

YES BATTERS NEED TO SWING
( because may never get a pitch batter likes)
1. Be observant of the umpire's Strike Zone area.
2. Make adjustments when necessary.
3. Never Strike out looking.
_________________________
The next part of the discussion is whether or not its a real excuse blaming the umpire for a batter striking out looking?!

I am in the
NO ESCUSES VALID
Group

 

[EdLovrich]

One thing that hasn't been addressed directly, although several have said the C brought the pitch up quite a bit: the style of catching known as One-Knee Down (OKD) involves the C bringing the mitt from low to high on nearly every pitch, it is the mechanic that is part of the new style. As an umpire, I appreciate the open view it gives me of the zone prior to and as the ball arrives at the plate. That being said, it DOES make it look like the C is influencing the call more than actually is happening. One needs to recognize the difference of a C holding a steady target for the P until after the ball arrives and then pulling it into the zone and the process of moving the glove as the ball is arriving and simple momentum carrying the glove higher.

OKD actually makes an umpire work harder to have a stable, established zone because you cannot rely on the position of where the ball is caught (and yes we all know that where the ball is caught has no bearing on whether the pitch was a strike or not, so we can forego that part of the argument). Did O'Nora have a bad day? It appears so, yes. I will not defend him by saying that he got the calls right. Did it affect the ultimate outcome of the game? You decide. Do we all have bad days at work? You tell me, have you been perfect on everything you do at work, day in and day out? Will O'Nora work harder in the future? I know the man in passing and will venture the guess that yes, he will; and I will add that no one feels worse about those calls than he does.

Does Ozuna have a reason to be upset with O'Nora? Yes, he does. Does he have the right to show that displeasure in a public, profane or prolonged fashion? NO, NEVER. Just as none of us has a right to publicly, profanely, or in a prolonged manner, deride anyone who is providing a service to us, no matter how much they may or may not be being paid. There is a term that has gained traction recently for a person who makes a public scene over a perceived slight that has been done to them, "Karen". Don't be a Karen!