Phillies Screwed by Umps, Giants Screwed by Umps; Everybody Yearning for Robo Umps

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The calling of balls and strikes has left a lot to be desired. It is so bad that both teams have at times been equally upset over pitches that cross that plate but are called balls and by phantom strikes 5 inches off the plate.

I understand the difficulty of calling balls and strikes, the pressure of making decisions on a ball that is traveling at 90 plus mph where you have less then half a second to see the path of the ball and determine where it crossed the plate but this is a pivotal part of the game.

If you look at the plot above there is a whole lot of green inside the box and if you look at the outside corner it seems to have grown by 3 inches on both sides (but only sometimes). What makes things worse is that if you look at the plot from Saturday's game you get a completely different picture as well.

So in the course of two games there have been two different interpretations of the same strike zone and each has been implemented inconsistently. This is getting a little crazy and there has to be something that can be done about it.

Major League Baseball needs to reel in these umpires that have their own idea about what is a ball and what is a strike and go by what is written in the rule book, what if foul balls were judged the same way? With some umpires giving you a couple inches here and there if would get them fired but with balls and strikes it is no problem.

To address at least the different interpretations that can be seen in a series let's start with the same guy behind the plate for each game. No more figuring out the umpire and guessing game.

Then in the off season MLB needs to get tough in making sure that umpires are calling the rule book zone. We have the ability now to see every pitch and track what was called a strike or ball, this needs to be reviewed and graded. If an umpire isn't calling the zone like it is supposed to he needs to be sent packing.

I look forward to the day when we have robo umpire acting as a impartial arbiter of the rule book strike zone.

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Does the Lineup Matter?

I am no different then the next guy. When Bruce Bochy puts out his lineup everyday there is usually something in it to complain about.

However does the makeup of a lineup matter all that much?

In the grand scheme of things for most teams there is not a huge difference in the number of runs scored between an optimal lineup and one that follows the more traditional form for baseball. It is on the magnitude of only about 1-2 wins or 10-25 runs per season, nothing to sneeze at but when compared to other things like roster construction it is pretty small.

However the 2010 Giants are not typical, every run matters and the team lacks true power hitters that can add runs in the form of a 3 run homer. This team scores runs by going base to base and lineup construction probably matters more here then in other situations. The lineup for this team could make the difference between 90 wins and 86 wins and another October watching from home.

The traditional baseball manager creates his lineup following this usual pattern: he has some fast guys on top of the lineup, a good situational hitter up second that can hit behind runners or bunt them over, then you put your best hitter third, then your masher run producer fourth to give protection and drive in runs, the 5 and 6 guys should be guys with pop that can drive in some runs and then it is followed by your two weakest position players 7 and 8 and finally your pitcher.

Bruce Bochy has followed that pattern for the better part of the season and his stint as a manager in the Major Leagues. The current lineup of Torres, Sanchez, Sandoval, Huff, Uribe, Molina, Posey, Rowand, and Pitcher projects over the whole season to be at about 4.447 per game or 720 runs over the whole season. Currently the Giants have scored 248 runs in 59 games for a average production of 4.2 runs per game.

So what is optimal?