Doubts pile up towards ABS, where is the real strike zone

Still unfamiliar. The so-called “opposite pitch” is ruled as a strike. The batter sighs despondently, and the catcher who receives the ball smiles awkwardly. The ratio of strikes, which was particularly high at the ball count 3-0, has also decreased. The ratio of balls, which was high at the ball count of 0-2, has also decreased. Everyone fights in the same square strike zone. Finally, a fair and identical strike zone has been formed.

The problem is consistency. Consistency is fine during a game. However, different stadiums have question marks over consistency. Rumors have it that the ABS of Jamsil Stadium is wider on the left and right than other stadiums. For this reason, pitchers who take the mound in Jamsil place more weight on the outside. When a ball that a batter thinks is missing is ruled as a strike, the flow of the game fluctuates greatly.

This was the case in the Jamsil game between LG and KT on the 7th. If LG scores, a strike came out to mark the end of the eighth inning with KT chasing. Kim Yoo-young, who pitched in the top of the eighth inning with no outs and runners on the first and second bases, threw a fastball outside the third pitch against KT’s Chun Sung-ho, and was ruled a strike.

A notable part is the ABS strike zone taken on the broadcast screen at this moment. On the screen, it was hung in the lower right corner of the square zone. The left and right widths of the strike zone and the home plate displayed on the screen are the same. This is what fans can be confused about.

KBO announced that the ABS strike zone will be applied by increasing both sides of the home plate by 2cm. It seems to have been omitted from the broadcast screen. The tablet placed in the dugout was different. The strike zone on the tablet was applied by increasing both sides of the home plate by 2cm. This means that the strike zone viewed by the field and the fan is different. Question marks over the ABS decision may increase.

Asked if the ABS zone displayed on the broadcast screen is the same as the zone that is actually recognized, a KBO official said, “The ABS zone shown on the broadcast screen is not a copy of the ABS data. It is a simulation screen for visual convenience,” adding, “It is different from the actual zone both left and right, and top and bottom. While the height difference is applied to the actual zone for each batter, the height difference for the screen zone cannot be implemented.”

Conclusions naturally come out. In the case of a ball or strike that is suspicious, the ABS must show the simulation scene. Major League Baseball (ML) has not used ABS for judgment since 2015, but has been using it for simulation purposes. In addition, ESPN broadcasts simulate specific ball and strike decisions by implementing strike zones as three-dimensional pillars. Displaying a simulation screen that is judged in three dimensions is more convincing than in two dimensions.

This is where the club has questions about ABS. There is also an area of judgment to be seen in the tracking data collected by each club. Club tracking data and ABS are often measured differently. Ball judgment matches on certain stadiums, but there is a big difference on other stadiums. This is the case even if you zoom in 2cm from left to right.

“It seems certain that ABS is different from stadium to stadium. I think it’s different from the exhibition game,” said a head coach of a Seoul metropolitan team. 스포츠토토