Gray Area Strikes

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by SAump

Play the angle from the plate to the mitt.
These big MVP guys deserve a bigger strike zone.
Built in up/down belt to knees, but stagnant 17 inches left/right.
Who remembers a shorter MLB hitter with more HR than Kirby Puckett?
Bet Mr Puckett's wingspan was much larger than his height for a person his size.
Hitters drop back-end lower into a cut and explode upward belt high {Bagwell}, a built in advantage.
Add Albert Pujols in a crouch and see how much his strike zone changes during a swing.
Bet a dollar it doesn't change very much when he's looking at the pitch go by.
Take the average of 1000 knees to belt shots of him swinging at a pitch in the strike zone.
The strike zone on a 5-5 ft adult wingspan really can't differ as much vertical or horizontally.
Explosive MLB hitters swing at these pitches. Shouldn't they be called a strike when they don't swing?

Two balls off the plate??

You are dreaming. Horse---- MLB hitters swing at those pitches. Or Vladi, who can't possibly be used in any conversation about conventional hitting. Vladi is the only true bad ball hitter in baseball that has gone that far out of the zone successfully since the '70s. It's not the general rule like you're saying. ... Kirby's wingspan was not different than a normal short guy. He was very strong. Another short guy with a lot of bombs: Jimmy Wynn--also very strong and the rare guy with a season of 140-plus walks and 140-plus strikeouts ... And just because a bad hitter like Ryan Howard would swing at a pitch two balls off the plate is not a good reason to call it a strike on a brilliant hitter like Mark Teixiera.