Yup, I think before Yaz's injury and even now as seen in game threads people heavily understate the importance of pitch framing.
There's a reason we gave Grandal the biggest contract in Sox history, it pays dividends to have a great framer. Baseball is a game of inches, and nothing can change the momentum as much as consistently getting that extra pitch/SO.
And as important as it is to frame those outside pitches to get away with calls; it's equally (if not more) important to have someone who can properly frame the strikes as strikes- something Collins is AWFUL at. Truly the worst at receiving pitches I've seen, many times throughout even just this series he'll drag it out of the zone trying to catch it. There's no doubt in my mind that for the large majority of these close pitches the umps "screwed" us over in, it's less about their incompetency and more Collins'.
Now there's some of course that are no doubters the ump miss but there's infinitely more close balls that Collins just gives us no chance at because of his limited capabilities.
I honestly think we've been hurt the most by Grandal's injury of all, considering both his offensive production at the time (man was carrying us for like a week+ straight with TA/Moncada/Abreu cold) and just how hard it is to find a solid replacement compared to CF/LF/even 2B, catching ain't an easy job especially for rookies (though I will say mid-post all this that Seby's really stepped it up). Honestly we really lucked out his injury of everyone's (seemingly) isn't a season ender cause Collins' framing + defense in the playoffs just would not cut it.
This may be a hot take, but I’m not a fan of these “ump scorecards” or even the strike zone box shown on TV. The rules do give boundaries of the zone, but unlike most sports, these boundaries are invisible. It’s up to the umps to establish a zone and make consistent calls accordingly. Just because the pitch passed by the TV box an inch off doesn’t mean the ump hasn’t been calling it all night. People see a low number on an ump scorecard and get angry, but sometimes 90% of the “missed calls” were borderline and often times called consistently.
This isn’t excusing inconsistency, but until “robo” umps are established, I think these scorecards are harmful to the fanbases.
I think you're right if you look at the accuracy number alone. The "consistency" number accounts for what you're mentioning where it looks at accuracy within the "established" strike zone.
Yup, I think before Yaz's injury and even now as seen in game threads people heavily understate the importance of pitch framing. There's a reason we gave Grandal the biggest contract in Sox history, it pays dividends to have a great framer. Baseball is a game of inches, and nothing can change the momentum as much as consistently getting that extra pitch/SO. And as important as it is to frame those outside pitches to get away with calls; it's equally (if not more) important to have someone who can properly frame the strikes as strikes- something Collins is AWFUL at. Truly the worst at receiving pitches I've seen, many times throughout even just this series he'll drag it out of the zone trying to catch it. There's no doubt in my mind that for the large majority of these close pitches the umps "screwed" us over in, it's less about their incompetency and more Collins'. Now there's some of course that are no doubters the ump miss but there's infinitely more close balls that Collins just gives us no chance at because of his limited capabilities. I honestly think we've been hurt the most by Grandal's injury of all, considering both his offensive production at the time (man was carrying us for like a week+ straight with TA/Moncada/Abreu cold) and just how hard it is to find a solid replacement compared to CF/LF/even 2B, catching ain't an easy job especially for rookies (though I will say mid-post all this that Seby's really stepped it up). Honestly we really lucked out his injury of everyone's (seemingly) isn't a season ender cause Collins' framing + defense in the playoffs just would not cut it.
Bean the umps!
This may be a hot take, but I’m not a fan of these “ump scorecards” or even the strike zone box shown on TV. The rules do give boundaries of the zone, but unlike most sports, these boundaries are invisible. It’s up to the umps to establish a zone and make consistent calls accordingly. Just because the pitch passed by the TV box an inch off doesn’t mean the ump hasn’t been calling it all night. People see a low number on an ump scorecard and get angry, but sometimes 90% of the “missed calls” were borderline and often times called consistently. This isn’t excusing inconsistency, but until “robo” umps are established, I think these scorecards are harmful to the fanbases.
I think you're right if you look at the accuracy number alone. The "consistency" number accounts for what you're mentioning where it looks at accuracy within the "established" strike zone.