[Mick]

1758804830[/url]']

1758769031[/url]']
Hoerner 1 for 4 tonight at Wrigley Field, still at .302. He probably needs at least a couple hits per game in the final 4 games to tie or overtake Turner  (.305) for the NL batting crown. You have to be fantastically good at hitting a baseball to have a .300 average in the major leagues, so hat's off to Hoerner!

{Incredibly valuable statistical analysis deeted}

Conclusion? Strike zone is larger, pitchers have more weapons, lower batting average. Will MLB lower the mounds in response? Probably not.

Will automated ball-strike calls partly sove this problem?

It might...depends on how the ABS system is calibrated. 

When I was coaching my kid's little league team, the umpires used to tell us that they considered the strike zone to be the "normal strike zone" in which the ball was expected to be thrown over the plate fully entering the zone, plus one ball outside the zone. In other words, all the ball really had to do was to graze the side of the strike zone, and it was considered a strike. But that was Little League. Nine-year-olds aren't going to be as accurate as big leaguers, and the idea is to get kids to swing at balls and make contact.

And that's the basic definition used in MLB. Any part of the ball passes through the strike zone...it's a strike.

The strike zone has changed over the years. In 1996, it was changed from the top of the knee to the bottom of the knee. Many years ago, the top of the strike zone was the shoulder, then dropped to the armpits, then the letters. Today, it's the midpoint between the shoulders and the top of the pants as the batter assumes their natural stance.

So. Depends on how it's calibrated. And how much they use it.

[Mick]

1758804830[/url]']

1758769031[/url]']
Hoerner 1 for 4 tonight at Wrigley Field, still at .302. He probably needs at least a couple hits per game in the final 4 games to tie or overtake Turner  (.305) for the NL batting crown. You have to be fantastically good at hitting a baseball to have a .300 average in the major leagues, so hat's off to Hoerner!

{Incredibly valuable statistical analysis deeted}

Conclusion? Strike zone is larger, pitchers have more weapons, lower batting average. Will MLB lower the mounds in response? Probably not.

Will automated ball-strike calls partly sove this problem?

It might...depends on how the ABS system is calibrated. 

When I was coaching my kid's little league team, the umpires used to tell us that they considered the strike zone to be the "normal strike zone" in which the ball was expected to be thrown over the plate fully entering the zone, plus one ball outside the zone. In other words, all the ball really had to do was to graze the side of the strike zone, and it was considered a strike. But that was Little League. Nine-year-olds aren't going to be as accurate as big leaguers, and the idea is to get kids to swing at balls and make contact.

And that's the basic definition used in MLB. Any part of the ball passes through the strike zone...it's a strike.

The strike zone has changed over the years. In 1996, it was changed from the top of the knee to the bottom of the knee. Many years ago, the top of the strike zone was the shoulder, then dropped to the armpits, then the letters. Today, it's the midpoint between the shoulders and the top of the pants as the batter assumes their natural stance.

So. Depends on how it's calibrated. And how much they use it.