Called Strikes out of the Strike Zone

(All 2011 games through May 16th - min. 100 pitches taken outside of the strike zone)

The first column indicates the total number of pitches the batter has taken outside of the pitchFX defined strike zone.  The second column shows what percent of taken pitches out of the strike zone were called strikes. Six New York Mets made the list - that's nearly a quarter of the top 25.  Call it the Madoff effect.  Oakland comes in second with 4 batters making the list.  The majority of these pitches are located off the outside edge of the zone as the following graphic indicates.

Called Strikes outside the Strike Zone in 2011

Here's a list of the batters that have had the least "non-strike" strikes called against them.

(All 2011 games through May 16th - min. 100 pitches taken outside of the strike zone)

It's interesting that Jeff Francoeur gets the smallest percent of bad strikes called against him.  The RHB ranks in the bottom 6% of the league in chasing pitches out of the zone.  Umpires apparently appreciate his free-swinging ways.

A Quick Look at Eric Hosmer

The Kansas City Royals called up Eric Hosmer (KCA) when Kila Ka'aihua (KCA) failed to hit in the majors this year.  Hosmer is off to a good start.  While his batting average isn't high at .242, he draws enough walks for a .333 OBP and slugs .515.

So far, pitchers work him outside:

Eric Hosmer, pitch frequency, 2011.They may not be working him far enough outside, however, as he owns the middle of the strike zone.

Eric Hosmer, in play batting average, 2011.Note his ability to hit the low pitch as well.  Eric smashes those for line drives with a higher frequency than balls in the middle of the plate.  Pitchers have another advantage going outside:

Eric Hosmer, called strike rate on taken pitches, 2011.Hosmer has shown good strike zone judgement.  He gets the calls at the top and bottom of the strike zone, but so far the outside edge belongs to the pitcher.  That's a bit unfair to the rookie.  He struck out three times on those outside strikes.  With his low number of at bats, it's one reason his batting average is low.  I hope the Royals encourage him to keep taking those pitches.  Eventually he'll get the calls, and pitchers will be forced into the strike zone where he can smack the ball.

O'Sullivan Moves to the Left

Sean O'Sullivan (KCA), right-handed pitcher, found a way to fool left-handed batters this season.  In 2010 they hit .247 against him with some power, slugging .428.  This season, lefties managed just a .177 BA against Sean, with a .226 slugging percentage, as a home run is the only extra base hit they collected. 

What is O'Sullivan doing differently?  One thing that stands out is his increased walk rate against lefties.  While the BA against dropped 70 points, the OBP against him only dropped 16 points.  Sean traded walks for extra base hits.  While a high walk rate isn't a good idea overall, for Sean so far, discretion is the better part of valor.

O'Sullivan also changed the movement of his pitches.  He throws a hard sinker and a slider (although the sinker doesn't seem to sink that much).  The following chart shows the movement of those two pitches against left-handed batters:

Sean O'Sullivan, sinker/slider movement, 2010.The hard sinker (the large red area above the horizontal line) tended to move away from lefties.  The slider moved down and in.  In 2011, the movement of both pitches shifted in:

Sean O'Sullivan, sinker/slider movement, 2011.So a pitch that used to tail away from lefties now tails in on them.  The slider moves farther in on them than before.  So a batter used to reaching for one of these pitches is now going to find the ball hit off the handle instead of the sweet spot.  It strikes me that this improvement might not last.  Once LHB get used to this movement, they should be able to hit it as well as last season.  Eventually, O'Sullivan may want to mix in both sinkers, so batters can't prepare for one or the other.