\u201cI would have thought maybe I was top 20 maybe but top five is kind of kind of crazy,\u201d the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander said. \u201cI guess the book is kind of still out. We\u2019ll see what happens and how we have to adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be winners and losers under the Automated Ball-Strike System, which makes its regular-season debut Wednesday night when the New York Yankees play at the San Francisco Giants. Using Hawk-Eye technology<\/a>, 12 cameras measure whether a pitch crosses the strike zone with accuracy of about one-sixth of an inch.<\/p>\n Kyle Hendricks led the majors with 777 called strikes over the past decade on pitches that should have been balls, according to MLB Statcast. He was followed by Aaron Nola (747), Gausman and Zach Davies (709 each), Kyle Gibson (697), Patrick Corbin (694), Marcus Stroman (671), Zack Greinke (667), Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez (647) and Kyle Freeland (631).<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s a good thing because you make balls look like strikes,\u201d Nola said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be some maybe good and bad to it, but I think the good parts and the big situations and big games, I that\u2019s going to help out a lot. We\u2019ve seen over the years our side lose games on a bad call.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversely, Corbin topped the major leagues on balls that should have been called strikes with 470. He was followed by Chris Sale (461), Nola (460), Carlos Rod\u00f3n (450), Yu Darvish (442), Sonny Gray (439), Jos\u00e9 Berr\u00edos (438), Steven Matz (436), and Jon Gray and Justin Verlander (435 apiece).<\/p>\n \u201cAll umpires always had like \u2014 they give a little bit here, they\u2019re a little tight there. You know this as a hitter and a pitcher,\u201d said Verlander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner back with Detroit for the start of his 21st big league season. \u201cBut it\u2019s all because of the way they set up and they see certain areas better than others. And now I think they\u2019re put in a situation where they have to call this like theoretical zone, instead of creating their own strike zone that they\u2019re probably much more consistent at.\u201d<\/p>\n Mookie Betts led batters on called strikes that should have been balls at 714.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows the strike zone as well as anyone and it does seem that he gets the short end of a lot of calls,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy I certainly would trust to challenge a call.\u201d<\/p>\n Betts was followed by Eugenio Su\u00e1rez (684), Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez (657), Paul Goldschmidt (656), Aaron Judge (653), Marcus Semien (631), Xander Bogaerts (625), Alex Bregman (603) and Christian Yelich (594).<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we didn\u2019t have a challenge system, you just try to do the best you could and understand that there\u2019s stuff that\u2019s out of your control,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cDefinitely the guys that are a little bit more patient are always going to have that. We just understand that\u2019s kind of the nature of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Giancarlo Stanton had 440 called strikes on pitches out of the strike zone and 351 balls on pitches that should have been strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge, you could change the whole game right there,\u201d the New York Yankees designated hitter said. \u201cIf you overturn one call, it could grow 15, 20 more pitches on a pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlos Santana received the most balls that should have been called strikes with 636. He was followed by Mike Trout (612), Su\u00e1rez (558), Ram\u00edrez (554), George Springer (539), Andrew McCutchen (513), Cody Bellinger (487), Freddie Freeman (471), and Ryan McMahon (466).<\/p>\n Statcast has been calculating based on the rule book strike zone at the front of home plate and using a batter\u2019s stance. Starting this year, it will compute with the ABS strike zone measured at the middle of the plate and based on a batter\u2019s height.<\/p>\n Teams tried to prepare players by using ABS for batting practice and having the scoreboard signal ball\/strike decisions.<\/p>\n A 1-1 pitch often can swing a plate appearance. Nola saw ABS in use last August when he made three injury rehabilitation starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just going to have to see what the umpires do,\u201d he said, \u201cif they\u2019re really going to be that tight as they were down there.\u201d<\/p>\n Statcast showed 1.6% of pitches out of the zone were called strikes last year, down from 2.1% in 2024 and the most accurate since 4.2% when tracking started in 2008.<\/p>\n Only 2.1% of pitches in the zone were ruled balls, up slightly from 1.7% in 2024 but well below 4.3% in 2008.<\/p>\n Pitchers who thrived on getting calls just beyond the black can lose those strikes, and memorable blown calls can be reversed \u2014 like Mark Langston\u2019s 2-2 fastball to Tino Martinez in the 1998 World Series opener that was over the plate and above the knees but ruled a ball by since-retired umpire Richie Garcia. One pitch later, Martinez hit a tiebreaking grand slam, sparking the Yankees to a 9-6 win and four-game sweep.<\/p>\n Garcia doesn\u2019t wish that there had been ABS back then.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d rather take the grief,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Where things stand with Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller<\/a><\/p>\n
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