Arguing the Strike Zone in the A's-Red Sox game

Last night, both Jason Varitek (BOS) and Jonathan Papelbon (BOS) were ejected in the top of the ninth inning for arguing the strike zone with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo.  Varitek was ejected first after a Cliff Pennington (OAK) double that cut the Red Sox lead over the A's to two runs.

First, let's look at all the called balls Papelbon had from the game:

10 Pitches (Click image to enlarge)

And here's Papelbon's called ball rate heat map from that ninth inning which incorporates all the pitches he threw:

28 pitches (Click image to enlarge)

Other than that one spot middle-down, Randazzo really didn't miss any called strikes.  And as for that missed strike call?  Well, it was the third pitch of Landon Powell's plate appearance.  Papelbon had him 0-2 and that should have ended the atbat.  But it did little to effect the inning because he eventually struck Powell out swinging on the 7th pitch.

Kevin Youkilis also gave Randazzo a hard time after the ump rang the Red Sox third baseman up on a Brad Ziegler (Oak) curveball in the 8th inning.

(Click image to enlarge)

Ziegler started him out with two sinkers, and finished with two curveballs which both caught the outside of the plate, the last well within the pitchFX defined strike zone.

Ironically, one of the biggest missed strikes from last night came while Youkilis batted in the 4th inning.  Oakland starter Trevor Cahill threw him a 3-2 curveball that seemed to land right in the middle of the plate, yet was called ball four.

(Click image to enlarge)

Cahill's sixth, and last pitch of the AB looks to have caught more than enough of the plate, but Randazzo didn't see it that way.  The first pitch, a changeup, was also called a ball by Randazzo, but appears to have caught the corner.  Cahill would get David Ortiz (BOS) to hit into an inning ending double play two pitches after walking Youkilis, however.  So much like the missed called strike to Powell in the ninth, no harm done.

Bartolo Colon's Doughnut

Bartolo Colon of the Yankees pitched his first shutout since 2006 on Monday against the Athletics.  Colon allowed just four hits and did not walk a batter.  His kept his approach simple, throw his fastball and keep it away from batters.  Eighty six of his 103 pitches came in as fastballs, varying in speed between 89 and 94 miles per hour.  His location really did the trick, however:

Bartolo Colon, fastball pitch frequency, May 30, 2011.Colon did a great job of being around the middle of the plate without being in the middle of the plate.  His pitches form a delicious looking doughnut, the hole being right in the sweet spot for batters.  That hole is actually formed by his ability to keep the fastball away from both right and left handed batters.  Against lefties, he was able to make the fastball fade away:

Bartoto Colon, fastball movement against LHB, May 30, 2011.Against righties, the pitch came in straighter, but with a little movement away:

Bartolo Colon, fastball movement vs. RHB, May 30, 2011.So in fact, Bartolo threw two fastballs, with slightly different velocities and spin:

Bartolo Colon, fastball spin, May 30, 2011.One fastball, represented by the darker orange, is the classic overhand backspin pitch.  The lighter orange pitch looks like it's thrown at a slightly lower angle, and in some ways looks like a very fast change up.  With the mixing of location, speeds and spins, Colon kept the Athletics off balanced and pitched his best game in half a decade.

Expanded Strike Zones

Most Called Strikes Outside of the Zone

While Daric Barton (OAK) tops the list, Ike Davis (NYM) has endured more strike three calls on pitches located outside of the zone (9) this season as determined by PitchFX. Arizona's Stephen Drew comes in second with 6.

Of course, you must consider volume when reviewing players' ball/strike data. While Daric Barton leads the league in taken called strikes outside of the strike zone, he also ranks twelfth in taken strikes within the strike zone (86), and 2nd overall in all pitches taken (355). So it's not necessarily the case that umpires have been favoring the opposing pitcher over Barton. He simply takes a ton of pitches, increasing the chances of bad calls by umpires. However, other than Barton, only two other players in the top 25 in called strikes out of the strike zone rank in the top 25 in total pitches taken, Carlos Santana (CLE) with 352 and Mark Teixeira (NYY) with 301.