Thinking About Pitching and Umpires

by jscape2000 on Nov 28, 2007 3:00 PM EST in New York Yankees News

More fascinating stuff from the Hardball Times.

If you haven't spent fifteen minutes reading Jonathan Hale's breakdown of umpire's strike zone tendencies, get a cup of coffee and check it out.

If the Yankees aren't paying someone to track which umpires are scheduled to call games, and offer suggestions on when it's safest to use a spot starter, I'd like to volunteer for the position. I'm willing to sleep on a cot in the boiler room so long as I can sit behind the dugout for all home games.

As Kevin000 and I recently discussed at length, knowing when to give the kids an extra day or even skip a turn in the rotation is going to be crucial to their development, both in 2008 and long term.

If I'm the Yankees I want to make sure that the umps with the largest strike zones are behind the plate when Jeff Karstens or (gag) Kei Igawa take the mound. That could matter more than whether we're facing the Orioles or the Royals.

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Igawa

For Igawa, I think we would need to import a Japanese umpire with the tall and narrow strike zone he is used to. That said, Igawa deserves every bad call he gets from the umps. He cant locate his pitches for shit.

"It's great to be young and a Yankee"

by stillmonster on Nov 28, 2007 4:31 PM EST reply actions

Tough to do ...

It's hard to match strike zone tendencies with umpires. However, pitchers and coaches do keep diaries of who's calling what.

For example, I keep detailed accounts of who tends to call what, and factor that into a game plan. If I have an umpire who gives 3-4" off the outside corner, I'm busting a guy inside and making sure my kid knows that he must get the ball off the plate 3-4" to get the out.

I also work off that distance, and try to stretch it. An umpire who will give you 3-4" will likely give you a low call as well. Whereas an umpire who is church straight on the strikezone has a tendency to call higher strikes.

Pitching isn't just about fastballs, curves, adding and subtrating, and knowing the hitters. It's also about knowing the umpires and pitching to their tendencies. Look no further than Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as prime examples of knowing umpire tendencies.

In all pretty fascinating.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Nov 28, 2007 4:32 PM EST reply actions