Friar Watch

There’s no Enhanced Gameday data for games in Phoenix so I thought I’d take a quick look at Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter on 4/18. Specifically, was he getting the calls from the ump?

Yellow = Balls
Green = Called Strikes

Looks like a fair strike zone to me.

On the other hand, let’s take a look at Kevin Millwood the same night:

Overall it looks like the umpire did a good job, Millwood might have been getting squeezed a little though. (The strike zone markers are based on a average of all batters faced so it’s possible some of those close calls at the top and bottom weren’t so close.)

Without having seen the game I’ll hazard a few guesses based on the data: Buehrle’s pitches are all over the place, when I see that it usually means the pitcher has good movement on his pitches. A high number of pitches up and in to right handed hitters would indicate a willingness to come inside, keeping batters from crowding the plate. Millwood is clustered in spots and overall is much closer to the strike zone but he got hit hard that night. If you’re not getting the close calls early in the count you have to go with your fastball for a strike and the hitters can sit on it.

Gameday Data 4/18 Rangers at White Sox