6/14 Reds (DeSclafani) @ Cubs (Lester) 7:08 PM CST, ESPN

[NotSoSober]

how do you give him that ? good lord

[ARCubsFan]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Soul]

Incompetent [expletive] ump

[Smack]

Perfect pitch, eh Kruk?

[TruffleShuffle]

We just got raped.

 

meh, it's too close to take with two strikes if the catcher sets up there, the pitcher hits the spot and the catcher frames it well. they also set it up well with the previous pitch, which was a little too far outside. as the post above says, that pitch gets called a strike 40% of the time against LH batters, so until robot umps come to mlb, it may be a good idea to swing in that spot.

[Gilby]

Looks like they changed that Castro ruling. That's cool. That strike 3 was not, however.

[Fred Hornkohl]

CUBS have been outscored 47-38 in games started by Lester (6-6)............

 

                  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16    Total

CUBS             11   0   4   4   2   4   3   3   0   3   4   0   0   0   0   0      38
Opponents         7   8   2   6   6  11   2   1   1   2   0   0   1   0   0   0      47

 

 

Go CUBS !!

[Gilby]

Lester looks good and efficient so far.

[Soul]

Truf he's trying to turn the AB in his favor by working it full. That was a ball it wasn't all that close. It's his best chance to get to a full count.

 

It's a bad call. Bring on the robot umps

[CubColtPacer]

We just got raped.

 

meh, it's too close to take with two strikes if the catcher sets up there, the pitcher hits the spot and the catcher frames it well. they also set it up well with the previous pitch, which was a little too far outside. as the post above says, that pitch gets called a strike 40% of the time against LH batters, so until robot umps come to mlb, it may be a good idea to swing in that spot.

 

It would be interesting to know the math on that. Even if a player gets called out 40% of the time, it might be worth it because they aren't going to do much with a pitch like that anyway. And that doesn't even count the residual effects. I don't know if a player can expand their strike zone in certain situations and not have it bleed a little bit over in situations it shouldn't.

[TruffleShuffle]

Truf he's trying to turn the AB in his favor by working it full. That was a ball it wasn't all that close. It's his best chance to get to a full count.

 

It's a bad call. Bring on the robot umps

 

it wasn't all that close? it was a half inch outside.

 

if we're going to praise montero and ross for getting borderline pitches called as strikes, then we really can't piss and moan when other teams do the same thing.

[Careless]

I wonder if that's the closest he's ever been to a hit

[Ski]

Truf he's trying to turn the AB in his favor by working it full. That was a ball it wasn't all that close. It's his best chance to get to a full count.

 

It's a bad call. Bring on the robot umps

I admit that watching a baseball zoom into an imaginary box is hard work, so I can forgive an ump for missing a call within an inch of the strike zone. Calling a strike two inches off the plate, however, is inexcusable.

[Irrelevant Dude]

I hate ESPN broadcasts. Stupid fixed strike zone graphic and terrible 5.1 audio.

[Cubswin11]

I hate ESPN broadcasts. Stupid fixed strike zone graphic and terrible 5.1 audio.

I prefer the fixed zone over having it on the side (like Fox) or none at all

[TruffleShuffle]

Truf he's trying to turn the AB in his favor by working it full. That was a ball it wasn't all that close. It's his best chance to get to a full count.

 

It's a bad call. Bring on the robot umps

I admit that watching a baseball zoom into an imaginary box is hard work, so I can forgive an ump for missing a call within an inch of the strike zone. Calling a strike two inches off the plate, however, is inexcusable.

 

well good thing the pitch was 0.6 inches off the plate, as the graphic posted in this thread clearly shows.

[Soul]

 

if we're going to praise montero and ross for getting borderline pitches called as strikes, then we really can't piss and moan when other teams do the same thing.

The only reason we praise that is because we know we need it because everyone else gets it!!

[Fred Hornkohl]

CUBS are 16-13 (.552) when the opponent steals a base.... 17-14 (.548) when they don't

 

 

Go CUBS !!

[Andy]

Here we go with the Lester doom boners from ESPN again

[Fred Hornkohl]

CUBS are 2-5 (.286) when the opponent steals 2 or more bases.... 31-22 (.585) when they don't

 

 

Go CUBS !!

[Fred Hornkohl]

CUBS are seeing 5.0 P/PA so far......... Reds are seeing 3.9 P/PA.

 

 

Go CUBS !!

[Ski]

Is the wind blowing in tonight?

[Schwarber Fan]

Is the wind blowing in tonight?

 

Clearly it's not blowing out.

[TruffleShuffle]

lo and behold, lester throws the first pitch to votto in the exact same location (just outside) that desclafani pitched baxter, and it's also called a strike.

[TruffleShuffle]

wow kruk you're not big on analytics? you don't say.