Strike Zones in Collegiate Summer Leagues

Oh boy, now you've done it...

HokieOne;

my son Robert played for Waynesboro Generals for three years. when I dropped hi off his 1st game in New Market, he K three times and I thought he would be released and beat me home to California. He survived. However a player as you know needs to adjust to the team, the coaches, the umpires, the League. I admire your experiences and your insight. "Keep going forward".

 

Best Wishes, You are providing the young players an "opportunity of a Lifetime".

 

Bob Williams

International Baseball

Good hitters learn how to hit oppo with a strike zone like that. Bristol was similar.

Sounds like a league I'd like to get my son into this summer since he is on the mound, not in the batters box.

Lots of high school guys calling it like this right now too.... And they are neither college or summer.  The belt being high, or 1baseball above it, annoys me even more.

My son had this experience: He was the starting pitcher for one of the teams in the first round of the Prospect League playoffs last summer. He had the first 2 batters of the game out, and was 0-2 on batter #3. He threw a nice fastball over the inside corner of the plate, under the batter's hands (a righty). Umpire says ball one. OK, he and catcher think its a pretty good pitch, let's throw it again, maybe ump was sleeping. Ump calls ball 2. Next pitch misses outside, ump calls strike 3. As catcher is leaving the field, ump calls him over and tells him he will not call an inside strike for strike 3 early in the game, but maybe later in the game he will. What does that mean? Does he have a situational strike zone?

This means the ump may need a reevaluation. 

Umpires have an incentive to call strikes, which shorten their workday.

 

When hitters complain about an oversized zone,  at least it makes sense in terms of the incentive.

 

But when pitchers complain about being squeezed....

Before this year's NCAA conference, it would have been more difficult for me to believe this.  But we were presented with video, that had primarily SEC umpires, in which pitches six inches off the plate were being called strike three.  I was amazed.Since the SEC has gone to video, I was even more surprised. Then, to confound me more, the results of survey were released that indicated NCAA coaches prefer a wider strike zone.

 

Nonetheless, the NCAA has put the word out that the in and out needs to be controlled and zone called properly.

 

So, what is proper?  If you measure from the outside edge of the ball as it just touches the inside of the plate to the outside edge of the ball as it just touches the outside of the plate, the zone is really almost 23 inches wide.  (17 inch plate plus the diameter of two ball at roughly 2.9" each.  I believe part of the problem is the old wives tail that three inches out or in is acceptable.  That would then put the outside of the ball 6" off the plate and make the zone nearly 29" wide.

 

More and more conferences are going with video and the conference supervisors I work for have given marching orders...the ball must touch the plate.  One went so far as to say, "We will not be next year's video laughing stock like SEC is this year!