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Why Did MLB's Shrunken Strike Zone Catch Players, Managers by Surprise?
Posted: 02 May 2025 11:02 am
by Pink Freud
The impact so far has been miniscule statistically, but the players and managers have noticed it. So why were so many of them caught off-guard by the umpires' tightening of the strike zone?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/632810 ... newsletter
One aspect that has NOT tightened: If a batter who believes he just drew a walk so much as looks toward first base, it's still an automatic strike.
Re: Why Did MLB's Shrunken Strike Zone Catch Players, Managers by Surprise?
Posted: 02 May 2025 11:17 am
by craviduce
Pink Freud wrote: ↑02 May 2025 11:02 am
The impact so far has been miniscule statistically, but the players and managers have noticed it. So why were so many of them caught off-guard by the umpires' tightening of the strike zone?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/632810 ... newsletter
One aspect that has NOT tightened: If a batter who believes he just drew a walk so much as looks toward first base, it's still an automatic strike.
what helped throw everyone off, was they were Fitted for the ABS in Spring Training, and they participated in games with ABS Challenges. So they knew immediately with validation what their specific strike zone should be. Come April 1st, Umpires didn't take the height of the player into consideration, they went back to their normal strike calling....one size fits all