DALEX posted:Every time I see a particularly filthy curveball catching one of the corners it makes me ponder the question "Is the strike zone 3-dimensional--does it have depth?" It's defined as "the area over home plate", so it does have depth by that defition, though statcast only sees it in two dimensions and I think for most people it's two dimensional. If my geometry is correct, the distance from the front edge to back tip of home plate is 17", and I have seen many late breaking curveballs with a LOT of break happening in that 17" distance--enough at least that during some portion of it's travel through that distance the pitch is both in AND out of the strike zone as I see it.
I used to have the MLB package. I would get tired of Jerry Remy and watch opposing team broadcasts. Too bad the Orioles have nothing to talk about. They have a great broadcast team.
One game the Rays broadcast team focused on the pitch tracker and how it works. They provided a flame like the old NHL “follow the puck” broadcasts. The pitch tracker is three dimensional. Some breaking pitches visually questionable were hitting deep in the strike zone. Some big breaking curves that looked like strikes in two dimensions (tv) were dropping in behind the strike zone.