"Tighter strike zone"???

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Just saw a post on another thread that said---"One factor that most people don't recognize is that the umpires call a tighter strike zone for varsity games most of the time... "

Got me to thinking---Is this true??? ?And is this how it's supposed to be???

I guess I always thought the further along players got, the more wide open the strike zone got and you had to be prepared to swing at close to everything.

What good is it for pitchers to become proficient at "painting the edges" if umps are tightening the strike zone???

I've definitely seen umps with a strike zone the size of a dinner plate, but I thought that made them less skilled than the umps who gave credit for pitches purposely placed on the edges.

What do y'all think???

 

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I think the post you mentioned was talking about JV having a bigger zone, the umpires are calling strikes both wide and high of the "true" strike zone. The varsity pitchers are painting the outside and inside edges and getting the calls.

 

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My dd does not play in HS yet, but at the younger ages it has been quite obvious that the pitchers that aren't so good get a much bigger strike zone than the good pitchers. JMHO

 

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A strike is a strike. A ball is a ball .

I have seen many umpires in youth elite widen the strike zone and make the "close enough" strike zone. Especially in the Fall ball leagues.

I have never understood their reasoning. As being a former pitcher myself throughout school and a catcher as well when I wasn't pitching... I have a strike zone that loves the painted corners.... I just love it and look for it in the games I do. Nothing like a pitcher working hard and doing what their coach ask of them in painting those corners.....

Anybody seen that MIami County Blaze pitcher for their 10u team.

SHE IS A MACHINE ...... Wow, is an understatement.

 

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Anybody seen that Miami County Blaze pitcher for their 10u team.

SHE IS A MACHINE ...... Wow, is an understatement.

If it is who I think it is, yes. I umpired a rec. league game for her last year and since it was rec. ball the catcher wasn't as skilled as what you'd see in travel ball. I think I took at least 5 pitches off of my face mask. The kicker was that, at the time, I had a pinched nerve in my neck.

 

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Tall, blonde and has a sling shot for an arm. I never got to see her from behind the plate at Beavercreek Sunday... but I did see her from the field.

Luckily for my partner, they had a good catcher as well......lol...

 

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It is generally accepted that for different levels of ball, the strike zone is adjusted somewhat. But the adjustment should not really all that radical or grossly unfair to the players.

For younger levels, with less skilled pitchers, give the pitcher every inch of the zone- and maybe about half a ball width off the sides of the plate. With less skilled pitchers, if you do not use every inch of the zone and widen it a bit, you are likely going to see an extended walk-fest. Batters will be inclined to not swing and take pitch after pitch, which makes for a really lousy game.

But the umpire shouldn't get carried away or it gets kind of ridiculous. Don't call strikes on pitches over the batter's head, down around her ankles or a foot off the plate! Expanding the zone a little bit is acceptable, but you should not be calling strikes on pitches that the batter has no reasonable chance of even reaching with the bat. It's a fine line and not really that big of an adjustment from the zone as exactly described in the rule book.

For higher levels, where the pitchers demonstrate some degree of skill, about the only adjustment is at the top of the zone. If the top of the zone is the armpits, at higher levels there is an expectation that the entire ball must be below that line. In other words, if the top of the ball is at or below the armpits, that should be a good pitch.

If the bottom edge of the ball is at that line, the top of the ball can actually be at the batters chin. If you call that pitch a strike at higher levels, you will get complaints all day long! The pitch will look high and is nearly impossible for the batter to hit.

At higher levels, that is about the only adjustment I make. If a pitch just nicks the corner, or the bottom line at the knees, reward the pitcher for making a good pitch and call that a strike.

Whatever you do, you have to call the same zone for both pitchers. Never call it tighter for one, because she is a better pitcher, or wider for the other because she is less skilled. Call the same zone for all pitchers in the same game, and be consistent with that same zone throughout the entire game.

 

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I do have one small question concerning this, my DD's first year of ball, player pitch rec. The two teams have very, very weak pitching, balls coming in like a rainbow, on both sides. The ump, a high school player, calls them all , and I mean all, balls. We were there for four hours. One of the coaches askes what she wanted out of them, it obviously wasn't getting better, and she replied "shut up or you're out of here". Shouldn't she see things aren't getting better, or are they balls? I've seen her since and she remembers us. She still claims our pitchers stunk. (at 9). Any thoughts?

 

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Flash,

Some Rec. leagues actually have things like "rainbow" pitches mentioned in their rules for different age groups, you might want to check.

I know for the younger groups at our local Rec. it states that no pitch will be called for being too flat or having too much arch.

Just a thought.

 

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I remember a few years back at the 12U travel level we had an umpire that at the meeting at home plate said" My strike zone is the neck to the ankles over the plate so your girls better be swinging.' ?He wasn't kidding that was how he called it but did it both ways.

 

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I think the post you mentioned was talking about JV having a bigger zone, the umpires are calling strikes both wide and high of the "true" strike zone. The varsity pitchers are painting the outside and inside edges and getting the calls.

skilbane---you are right, I believe that was the intent of their post.

I was just taking it a little further to spark some discussion about different ump's interpretation of the strike zone. ?Jus' tryin' to start stuff. ? ;D

 

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One of my high school kids that I work with, did just that last night. She took a high outside pitch to the fence. She asked me later if it was a ball. I told her , if you can hit it nothing is a ball. That is why we work on the drills . Nothing takes the air out of another team , when you take a pitch and hammer it outside of the strike zone.