Last week we looked back at 10 seasons of data for our pitch-framing stat, Strike Zone Runs Saved, which puts a run value on the result of taken pitches, and we looked at which catchers have fared best and worst in those measurements.

One of the neat things about Strike Zone Runs Saved (SZRS) is its flexibility. It can also be used to evaluate hitters, pitchers, and umpires. We can see which batters and pitchers are getting more or fewer called strikes than expected. We can also see which umpires are calling more or fewer strikes than expected. 

Batters

Batters With Most Extra Called Strikes, 2015-2024 (minimum 5 seasons)

Batters With Most Extra Called Balls 2015-2024 (minimum 5 Seasons)

What these tables are showing is that Xander Bogaerts is getting more called strikes against him than he should be (and the most above what he should be of any hitter in the majors in the last 10 seasons). Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper are at the other end of the spectrum. They get a more favorably called strike zone than other hitters.

The scale for batters isn’t mind-blowing, just a run per season at the extremes. And that’s not shocking, considering there isn’t some obvious direct mechanism by which the batter might influence a strike call, other than maybe how close he stands to the plate. 

However, there does seem to be some kind of a reputation effect at play. You don’t see it as clearly in the top five, but here are the top 20 in each group:

• Extra strikes: Xander Bogaerts, Curtis Granderson, Wilmer Flores, Alcides Escobar, Luis Garcia Jr., Carlos Correa, Nomar Mazara, Thairo Estrada, Ian Kinsler, Yolmer Sanchez, Mark Canha, Joey Wendle, Logan Forsythe, Isaac Paredes, Brock Holt, Jorge Polanco, Eloy Jimenez, Donovan Solano, Hunter Pence, Domingo Santana
• Extra balls: Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, Charlie Blackmon, Ryan McMahon, Carlos Santana, Russell Martin, J.P. Crawford, Jed Lowrie, Dustin Pedroia, Cody Bellinger, Freddie Freeman, Yasmani Grandal, Yadier Molina, Nathaniel Lowe, Buster Posey, Carlos Gonzalez, Corey Seager, Shohei Ohtani, Joey Votto, Yonder Alonso

There are several MVPs and a few near-misses in the hitter-friendly group, and none in the pitcher-friendly group. That seems unlikely to be a coincidence. 

It’s also notable that there are four catchers in the hitter-friendly group and none in the pitcher-friendly group. At a more macro level, only one player who had at least five years at catcher in the last 10 had more than a quarter of a run per season go against him (Ryan Jeffers). There were 19 catchers on the positive side of that.  

You often hear about catchers not wanting to get into a tiff with an umpire when they’re batting because they want to get good calls as a catcher, but they seem to get a little bit of favoritism regardless.

Pitchers

Pitchers With Extra Called Strikes, 2015-24 (minimum 5 seasons)

Pitchers With Fewer Called Strikes, 2015-2024 (minimum 5 seasons)

For those who have believed that Clayton Kershaw gets strike calls because he’s Clayton Kershaw, perhaps his inclusion on the list adds a little something to that belief. He’s among the pitchers who have gotten more calls than expected. That Framber Valdez and Zack Wheeler are still succeeding in spite of having arguably the least pitcher-friendly strike zone is illustrative of their reliance on ground balls and missed swings, respectively.

We’re not sure what to otherwise make of these lists other than that the strike zone is tighter for current pitchers. The calculation of Strike Zone Runs Saved uses a rolling two-year window, so slight changes to rules are accounted for, but it isn’t going to move immediately when guidelines change.

Umpires

More Called Strikes Than Expected (2015-2024, Minimum 5 Seasons)

Fewer Called Strikes Than Expected (2015-2024, Minimum 5 Seasons)

As we’ve previously noted in Stat of the Week, Doug Eddings and Bill Miller have and have had the most pitcher-friendly strike zones in baseball. They’ve largely gone unchanged over the years. Lance Barrett, Phil Cuzzi, and Mike Estabrook are all big strike zone umpires, though they don’t occupy the same ballpark as Eddings and Miller.

At the opposite end of things are the umpires with the most hitter-friendly strike zones in baseball. Alfonso Márquez has been known to have a smaller strike zone than most of his peers for years. The spread among the five umpires listed above with the most hitter-friendly zones isn’t as vast as the gap between Eddings, Miller, and their fellow umpires.

One other note about Eddings, Miller, and Márquez is that though these numbers indicate they favor either the pitcher or hitter more than any other umpires, this does not seem to have impacted how they are viewed by the MLB office. They each been given prominent postseason assignments the last few years. Miller and Márquez worked the 2023 World Series. Eddings was on the World Series crew in 2024.