SF Giants’ Verlander frustrated over tweaks to tighten strike zone, MLB’s lack of communication

SAN FRANCISCO Justin Verlander understands the strike zone as well as any pitcher in the meeting possessing a photographic memory forged by seasons at baseball s highest level He noticed something peculiar in latest weeks His teammates did as well The strike zone or rather the buffer zone is smaller And no one advised him or his teammates about the change According to a assessment by The Athletic Major League Baseball changed how it grades home-plate umpires which in turn has resulted in a tighter strike zone Umpires previously received two inches of leeway on calls outside the zone on all sides of the plate when they were graded Now the buffer zone which refers to the area just around the zone has shrunk from two inches to three-quarters of an inch on all sides inside and outside the strike zone The consequence has been fewer pitches on the edge of the zone being called strikes It s a change has caught several Giants players by complete surprise creating both confusion and frustration This just exacerbates the obstacle between MLB and players too Verlander communicated this news organization There s a lack of trust and a lack of communication Rob Manfred runs around every spring training saying It s not us We re open We want to talk We want to have a great relationship with you guys Then they do everything behind closed doors and don t include us in anything in the challenge that we play and make our livelihood doing While the buffer zone is smaller the rulebook strike zone remains the same There are other factors that play into the zone feeling smaller younger umpires for example but the reduced buffer zone has caught players off guard The league claimed per the overview that it communicated the upcoming change to all managers all front offices and the players union then sent a memorandum to every unit once the league and the umpires completed their agreement But when this news organization solicited multiple Giants not a single person declared they were made aware Earlier this season catcher Sam Huff recalled asking fellow catcher Patrick Bailey if he felt the strike zone was smaller Bailey and Huff both agreed that yes the zone felt smaller compared to previous years Robbie Ray the second-most experienced pitcher on the Giants behind Verlander agreed that the zone feels smaller as well We saw that story stated Verlander who has a ERA over his last five starts The league commented they notified everybody and everybody noted We never heard anything They talked to all the people that were supposed to be notified and none of them had heard anything So somebody s lying A lack of transparency between the players and the league isn t uncommon Verlander pointed to the league s failure for example to communicate that it was using different baseballs in different years But transparency is far from the only point of contention The reduced buffer zone hasn t had a noticeable upshot on the run ecosystem In the league-wide batting average was with an walk rate and strikeout rate This season the numbers are almost exactly similar batting average walk rate strikeout rate Umpire accuracy this season is also the highest its ever been in the Statcast era Still Verlander looked at the large-scale ramifications To Verlander the art of starting pitching is already on the decline Starters are throwing fewer innings incentivized to max out instead of learning how to pitch deep into games In Verlander s opinion the reduced buffer zone will only exacerbate the obstacle which Verlander described as a band-aid on a bullet wound That is a smaller buffer zone will advantage pitchers with bigger stuff who can throw their pitches in the zone and disadvantage pitchers who paint corners Related Articles Could this right-hander s spot in the SF Giants rotation be in jeopardy SF Giants make chosen late noise but are doomed by early pitching struggles What s the SF Giants plan at second base when Tyler Fitzgerald returns Koss grand slam leads SF Giants three-homer day to break cold spell What does reinstatement of Pete Rose Shoeless Joe Jackson mean for Barry Bonds You get what you ask for So if teams are valuing bigger stuff less command that s what you re going to get Because what s the point of having a guy with great command if he nibbles on the corners We used to be able to get that strike and now we don t Now he has to bring lesser stuff into the heart of the zone You re going to get hurt that way Verlander stated The other way around is you say OK expletive it We ll take the guy that throws with a good current ball and have the catcher set up right down the middle and throw as hard as you can and go two times through the lineup and then we re on to the next guy that throws out of the bullpen That to me is not the contest of baseball that I know and love and I don t think that s the challenge the fans want