Proposed smaller strike zone is debated
Hitters would benefit, pitchers suffer if low strikes become balls
That's the change in the strike zone that is being considered by Major League Baseball, but don't kid yourself. There's nothing insignificant about a baseball-sized reduction at the bottom end of the invisible rectangle that governs the pace and presentation of the national pastime.
The sport is trying to find that sweet spot between the homer-happy steroid era and the recent offensive malaise that is the result of a variety of factors — from increasing bullpen specialization to an uptick in pitch velocity to the proliferation of defensive shifts.
To those who will be affected by it, it's not complicated.
“The intended effect is to make it harder on pitchers and easier on hitters,” reliever Darren O'Day said.
There will be plenty of time to think about the impact, considering that the suggested change would require agreement among baseball owners, then negotiation with the Major League Baseball Players Association. And the union is skeptical.
MLBPA chief Tony Clark held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart last Saturday to make a point about the significance of the shift.
“That difference is huge, with respect with ball or strike, home run, pop-up or miss altogether,” he said. “I think it's one of those things where, ‘OK, I understand the conversation, let's talk more about it.' But the truth is, ‘We're just going to move to this because we think it makes more sense?' We've got to be careful there, so there's going to be ongoing dialogue about what that looks like.”
MLB has spent a lot of time lately massaging the rules. The commissioner's office recently announced a change in the slide rule to protect middle infielders and a few more tweaks have been made to speed up the pace of the game.
None of that, however, compares in significance to a change in the strike zone, especially one that clearly benefits one group of players over another and might negatively affect some pitchers more than others.
“Because of the fact that the pitching has been so dominant the last couple of years, I think that making an alteration to the strike zone would be more beneficial to the hitters, obviously,” first baseman Chris Davis said. “I think as far as the fans are concerned, the overall benefit for the game, I think it will make it a little bit more enjoyable watching the game knowing there is going to be a little more offense.
“They want to see runners on base. They want to see runs scored and the pitching has just been lights-out for the last couple of years, so I think anything we can do to maybe put the ball back in the hitters' court is going to be huge.”
Clearly, the pitchers would be negatively affected — that's the whole point — and the pitchers who figure to be most adversely affected would be sinkerball guys and control pitchers who live at the bottom of the strike zone.
Closer Zach Britton isn't worried. He actually spent some time analyzing how the proposal would affect him with the help of his agent, Scott Boras.
“Honestly, I don't think it would affect me too much because if you look at the balls I throw for called strikes, they aren't that low,” Britton said. “I've actually looked at it with my agent. He gave me the data, where they were in the zone for strikes — for called strikes. Most of the time I wasn't getting the called strikes that were extremely low. If I was getting it, it was a swinging strike.”
O'Day also is a guy who spends a lot of time setting up hitters inside and outside the lower part of the strike zone. He said he wouldn't have a problem with moving up the bottom of it if the entire zone were shifted upward, but knows that this is not about standardization.
“That doesn't seem fair to me,” O'Day said. “If they would start calling the whole strike zone — if they would call the top of the strike zone like they're supposed to, it would help pitchers, but that's not going to happen because everybody wants to see balls hit out of the park. They're going to keep making it harder for us.”
Still, O'Day doesn't think that losing the knee will force him to change how he attacks hitters. He beguiles batters with his sidearm delivery and ability to work the strike zone from the bottom up.
“These are the best hitters in the world, so anytime you can eliminate a couple inches of real estate that they don't have to defend is going to help them,” he said. “But I don't pitch that much at the bottom of the zone and I pitch up more and I pitch out of the strike zone.”
Baseball has always been a game of adjustment and readjustment. For pitchers, it's also a matter of establishing zone credibility with both the umpires and opposing hitters.
“If you can prove that you can throw strikes with your sinking fastball, you're going to be fine,” Britton said. “If you aren't consistent with that pitch, you'll have a little bit harder time because hitters would just lay off things lower in the zone, but I think it's easier said than done that hitters are going to eliminate the bottom part of the strike zone.”
It shouldn't come as a big surprise to anybody that the hitters have a different take on this possibility. They're all for it.
“That's good,” shortstop J.J. Hardy said. “I think numbers have shown the last couple years, pitchers have been more dominant than before. I think they're all throwing harder. If they can help the hitters out a little bit, 2 inches down there works. I think maybe eliminate those borderline low ones that are probably strikes but always feel like balls. I'm all for it.”
Catcher Matt Wieters has a stake in both ends of this debate. He would benefit from the smaller zone as a hitter, of course, but also has to help his pitchers navigate it. So he's ambivalent about whether the change should be approved.
“It will lead to some adjustment with guys like [Britton and O'Day],” he said. “I don't know if I'd be in favor of that or not, but as far as adjustment purposes, guys who are able to last in this game for a long time — no matter where the strike zone's called and what hitters are doing, they're able to adjust. The guys with the ability to play this game for a long time will be able to adjust to whatever rules get thrown up there at them.”
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
