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"If the pitch hits the batter before reaching the plate (and, therefore, the strike zone), the umpire judges the pitch a ball or strike on his judgement of where the pitch would have been absent hitting the batter.
You call the pitch where it was when it was interfered with by the batter - NOT WHERE YOU IMAGINE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN!
In this situation, the batter tried to gain an advantage by purposely leaning into the pitch. One can assume that with 0-2 on a good batter, he was ready to protect the plate and in close. However, a good batter may also assume that with that same count he can slide up and away in order to get it before the big bend. We cannot tell where the batter was in this situation due to the way it was written. If he set up and away but leans in, he could very well still be within the confines of the box.
Coach JM is very knowledgable and typically on the mark. But, he is still a coach and his perception is sometimes skewed accordingly. Coaches want this call while on defense, but not when their stud is at bat.
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"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers.
You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
~Naguib Mahfouz
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