Building on the work done at Beyond the Box Score and elsewhere, Baseball Prospectus’ Mike Fast has published an outstanding look at the real strike zone and why it’s called that way. Here’s one reasonably comprehensive passage:
Umpires And The Catchers Who Fool Them
↵↵Anyone researching the performance of umpires in calling balls and strikes is strongly encouraged to consider the catcher target theory. It does not fully explain every umpire variation, but it appears to be the primary factor in many cases.
↵↵For more on the “catcher target theory” and related matters, you really should read the whole article. This is groundbreaking stuff, friends, and a picture window into the immediate future of baseball analysis.
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