Which umpire has the largest strike zone

I was also interested in the relationship between strike zone area and swing rate. My thinking was that if an umpire had a smaller strike zone, batters would have better pitches to hit and swing more. In other words, I guessed that strike zone area would have an inverse relationship with swing rate. Turns out the opposite is true, and that strike zone area has a positive relationship with swing rate, significant at a percent level.

Although this seems to controvert common sense—or at least my intuition, anyway—upon reflection, it makes sense. This is because they are trying to protect the plate. So if a larger strike zone means more pitcher counts, then it might also mean a higher swing rate. I should also note that there is a very tight distribution of swing rates among umpires, ranging from 44 percent to 47 percent.

There are many more factors at play here than just umpires. I have not adjusted the metric for batter identity, pitcher identity, league or ballpark.

The largest variable which I have not accounted for is batter handedness; because left-handed batters and right-handed batters have different called strikezones, this probably decreases the accuracy of the metric.

While it can be interpreted in many ways, it seems to me that umpires are pretty consistent in terms of their strike zone sizes. However, what differences there are definitely have a significant effect on run scoring, which we can see in the relationship between strike zone area and kwERA. The big difference is that it is a mirror image the zone tilts slightly downward toward the outside corner and shifted outside for LHB. My guess is that the younger guys came through the system with significant technological coaching and adhere closer to the rulebook zone than the older guys.

Good … Read more ». Any chance you are going to share the contour area calculations? Very nice work. Any chance you can break the data up by team?

MikeEI, I think there may be issues with breaking things up by team, since the size of the zone varies so much by count and pitch type among a plethora of other variables. Controlling for these factors say, in a regression makes it much more difficult to directly compare the area of the zones.

As the first comment hints, I think the Questec system was mothballed a few years ago. Great info. Could this be spun into fantasy data… look at teams that frequently get home umpires with larger zones, maybe they have an upper hand. Or if you have a pick up a spot starter, grab the one who has a wider zone for that given day. Who is behind the plate in the first game of the series is not released, but you can usually impute after that. To the chagrin of my fantasy buddies, I will be trying to do just that this year.

The advantages, I think, would be pretty marginal especially in a shallow league without much waiver wire, or in a weekly lineup league. Those where it does matter have a consistency problem which could bias your results.

The Three Dimensional Strikezone. How to call the pitch on the edge of the plate. Related Content. Strike Zone Misconceptions. Related Rules 2. NCAA Ball. Related Forum Topics. Batter steps out of batters box Situation, Runner on 1st, no outs.

The count on th The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter's stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a comprehensive look at the history of the strike zone.

Included below are official rules, definitions, clarifications, and official statements made about the strike zone over the course of baseball history. Hitters who force pitchers to stay in the strike zone are productive and pitchers who take hitters out of the strike zone are dominate. The Strike Zone is expanded on the lower end, moving from the top of the knees to the bottom of the knees bottom has been identified as the hollow beneath the kneecap.

The Strike Zone is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the top of the knees. The Strike Zone is that space over home plate which is between the batter's armpits and the top of his knees when he assumes a natural stance. The umpire shall determine the Strike Zone according to the batter's usual stance when he swings at a pitch.

The Strike Zone is that space over home plate which is between the top of the batter's shoulders and his knees when he assumes his natural stance.

Note: f was added to the former rule and definition. The Strike Zone is that space over home plate which is between the batter's armpits and the top of his knees when he assumes his natural stance.

With the bases unoccupied, any ball delivered by the pitcher while either foot is not in contact with the pitcher's plate shall be called a ball by the umpire. A fairly delivered ball is a ball pitched or thrown to the bat by the pitcher while standing in his position and facing the batsman that passes over any portion of the home base, before touching the ground, not lower than the batsman's knee, nor higher than his shoulder.