I felt your question deserved a thread of it's own and since it's a slow day I felt I would respond in a seperate thread.
"When looking at the umps, do you look at strike percentages at all. And if so, does it mean anything?"
The answer is yes but it is not as important to me today as it was a couple of years ago. The league has been tightening the strike zone for the last couple of years and the machine has made a difference.
Here's how I used to use it. I'll use Glavin and Maddux as examples because I am pretty familiar with their pitching styles. They both made a living for years throwing down and out. I lot of umps would give them that pitch but a handfull wouldn't. If they got a ump with a tight strike zone, they both could be hit and the over was almost automatic. I was always surprised that more people didn't pick up on it. If you noticed, Maddux has adjusted better to the smaller sz than Glavin. Today, I don't put as much faith in it as I used to but still in a couple of situations it might be meaningful. A pitcher with control problems and if the game is supposed to go over. More pitches over the plate means more hitable balls but the truth is, if the game is supposed to go under, everything is a strike.
I hope I have answered your question. Good luck
"When looking at the umps, do you look at strike percentages at all. And if so, does it mean anything?"
The answer is yes but it is not as important to me today as it was a couple of years ago. The league has been tightening the strike zone for the last couple of years and the machine has made a difference.
Here's how I used to use it. I'll use Glavin and Maddux as examples because I am pretty familiar with their pitching styles. They both made a living for years throwing down and out. I lot of umps would give them that pitch but a handfull wouldn't. If they got a ump with a tight strike zone, they both could be hit and the over was almost automatic. I was always surprised that more people didn't pick up on it. If you noticed, Maddux has adjusted better to the smaller sz than Glavin. Today, I don't put as much faith in it as I used to but still in a couple of situations it might be meaningful. A pitcher with control problems and if the game is supposed to go over. More pitches over the plate means more hitable balls but the truth is, if the game is supposed to go under, everything is a strike.
I hope I have answered your question. Good luck
