Pitch f/x shows umpires are improving

[Sammys Boombox]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/umpires-are-less-blind-than-they-used-to-be/

 

1. Umpires as a whole are getting better.

2. The same good umpires are good every year and the same bad ones are bad every year.

3. There is a huge difference between good and bad umpires.

4. The strike zone is getting larger as umpires try to call the "new" strike zone. We already knew this.

 

I felt the strike zone was worse this year than last, but obviously my sample size is going to be very small (60-75% of pitches thrown in Cubs games this season I have observed - I guesstimate - and maybe 25% of pitches thrown in Royals games) and biased.*

 

*Also, fangraphs has ran articles on how both Soler and Fowler are amongst the most screwed hitters this season. It also pointed out in that article that there is no correlation year-to-year for hitters' K zones, but that the correlation does follow catchers' K zones. I would be interested in seeing if there is a way to measure how much each umpire is influenced by framing. What seems odd to me though is the best umpires call more strikes, so it's not like good framers are fooling them. Maybe good framers are just giving them a better look on pitches down?

[Derwood]

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/dmbfndd.gif