Changes to the way Major League Baseball evaluates umpires has resulted in fewer called strikes on the edges of the zone through the first month of the 2025 season, reports The Athletic. The change was made as part of the league’s new labor agreement with the umpires’ union, which was reached in December.
Here is the change that was made to the umpire evaluation process, via The Athletic:
For the past two decades, umpires were working with a “buffer zone” that gave them 2 inches of leeway — on all sides of the plate, inside and outside the strike zone — when they were graded on how accurately they called balls and strikes.
Now, however, that buffer zone has shrunk, from 2 inches on all sides to just three-quarters of an inch on all sides, inside and outside the strike zone, according to league sources briefed on the change but not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. An MLB official confirmed that the buffer zone had decreased in size.
“We informed the GMs and Field Managers that we were seeking this change during the offseason, and again informed the Clubs when the umpire CBA was ratified,” a league official told The Athletic. “Overall ball-strike accuracy in 2025 is the highest it has ever been through this point in the season.”
Statcast data says ball/strike calls have been more accurate in the early going this season than in any season since Statcast launched in 2015. Just over 88% of ball/strike calls have been correct this year. In 2016, it was under 84%. Umpires have gradually improved the accuracy of their ball/strike calls every year since pitch-tracking first began back in 2008.
Several players told The Athletic they feel the strike zone is tighter this year. Even if the zone is tighter, it has not boosted offense. The league as a whole was hitting .242/.316/.392 and averaging 4.34 runs per game entering play Thursday. That almost perfectly matches last year’s .243/.312/.399 line and 4.39 runs per game average.
The difference in ball/strike call rate between this year and last year works out to less than one pitch per game. MLB’s competition committee is expected to discuss the change to how umpires are evaluated and its impact on the game when they meet next. The competition committee consists of six owners, four players, and one umpire.
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