Having the strike zone there for almost every pitch during the playoffs brought up some interesting points.

1. The camera angle made everything look more outside to a righty than it actually was.

2. The pitchers threw a very high percentage of fastballs up in the zone and very few fastballs in the lower third of the zone.

3. A lot of the pitches that were swung at and a few that were called strikes were outside the strike box, even with less than 2 strikes.

4. At least one umpire wasn't calling the low strike at all.

5. MLB pitchers don't have anywhere near the command that many parents of youth pitchers think their kids have.

I really like the new graphic. I am not sure about pitch locations, as I did not categorize the pitches as much as you did. I did notice some inconsistencies with certain umpires. (and consistencies to be fair also) I am not sure who the ump was for the Yankee game last night, but he was horrible.(some consistency there ) Low pitches not called for strikes, repeat pitches one ball, one a strike. There was one breaking pitch right in the middle of the zone and was called a ball. I was thinking it must be Cuzzi since he was all over the place.

I also noticed some umps were very consistent in calling certain pitches a strike, (or ball) in the same location over the course of the evening, which was nice to see. It also helped see how pitchers were pitching to certain hitters. Nice addition in my opinion.

Mark Wegner had the plate for the Yankees game last night. You can tell it wasn't CB Bucknor because he got more than one call right in a 9-inning game.

I think that the calls have been quite good and fair, if they called a strike a ball, the next ball would be a strike, umpires are human, what a tough job at home plate.
I actually don't pay as much attention to the zone box as to where the catcher sets up. If that pitcher throws it to his target (depending upon which pitch), he has done what he was supposed to do, regardless of whether it's in the zone box or not.


CADad, I am sure you realize that most pitchers just facing batters will throw some inside and outside, up and down to see where the ump establishes his zone, not necessary what the box determines. Then staying in that established zone is what counts, not that box.

I am not sure if that goes with what you are saying, just my opinion.

TPM,
You got it. A pitcher has to throw to the umpire's strike zone. As far as the last comment about command I was just noting that a lot of fastballs weren't all that close to where the target was. There were also some nice pitches that were a bit outside or inside that nailed the target and that's good pitching and good command regardless of the call.

I remember the announcers noting that the length of the zone on the screen was not adjusted for the height of the individual hitters, too.