DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman received favorable strike calls from human umpires on 709 pitches that were actually outside the strike zone during the last ten years, ranking him third among all major league players.
“I would have thought maybe I was top 20 maybe but top five is kind of kind of crazy,” the right-handed pitcher commented. “I guess the book is kind of still out. We’ll see what happens and how we have to adjust.”
Major League Baseball’s new Automated Ball-Strike System launches Wednesday evening when the New York Yankees face the San Francisco Giants, bringing both advantages and disadvantages for different players. The system employs Hawk-Eye technology with 12 cameras to determine if pitches pass through the strike zone, achieving precision within roughly one-sixth of an inch.
According to MLB Statcast data from the previous decade, Kyle Hendricks topped all pitchers with 777 favorable strike calls on pitches outside the zone. Aaron Nola came second with 747, followed by Gausman and Zach Davies at 709 each, then Kyle Gibson with 697, Patrick Corbin at 694, Marcus Stroman with 671, Zack Greinke at 667, Martín Pérez with 647, and Kyle Freeland at 631.
“I guess that’s a good thing because you make balls look like strikes,” Nola observed. “There’s going to be some maybe good and bad to it, but I think the good parts and the big situations and big games, I that’s going to help out a lot. We’ve seen over the years our side lose games on a bad call.”
On the flip side, Corbin led all pitchers in strikes that should have been called but weren’t, with 470 such instances. Chris Sale followed at 461, Nola at 460, Carlos Rodón with 450, Yu Darvish at 442, Sonny Gray with 439, José Berríos at 438, Steven Matz with 436, and Jon Gray and Justin Verlander tied at 435.
“All umpires always had like — they give a little bit here, they’re a little tight there. You know this as a hitter and a pitcher,” explained Verlander, the three-time Cy Young Award winner returning to Detroit for his 21st major league campaign. “But it’s all because of the way they set up and they see certain areas better than others. And now I think they’re put in a situation where they have to call this like theoretical zone, instead of creating their own strike zone that they’re probably much more consistent at.”
Among hitters, Mookie Betts experienced the most unfavorable strike calls on pitches outside the zone, with 714 instances.
“He knows the strike zone as well as anyone and it does seem that he gets the short end of a lot of calls,” noted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “He’s a guy I certainly would trust to challenge a call.”
Following Betts were Eugenio Suárez with 684, José Ramírez at 657, Paul Goldschmidt with 656, Aaron Judge at 653, Marcus Semien with 631, Xander Bogaerts at 625, Alex Bregman with 603, and Christian Yelich at 594.
“When we didn’t have a challenge system, you just try to do the best you could and understand that there’s stuff that’s out of your control,” Goldschmidt reflected. “Definitely the guys that are a little bit more patient are always going to have that. We just understand that’s kind of the nature of it.”
Giancarlo Stanton experienced 440 incorrect strike calls on pitches outside the zone and 351 ball calls on pitches that should have been strikes.
“The challenge, you could change the whole game right there,” the Yankees designated hitter stated. “If you overturn one call, it could grow 15, 20 more pitches on a pitcher.”
Carlos Santana had the most strikes incorrectly called as balls, totaling 636. Mike Trout ranked second with 612, followed by Suárez at 558, Ramírez with 554, George Springer at 539, Andrew McCutchen with 513, Cody Bellinger at 487, Freddie Freeman with 471, and Ryan McMahon at 466.
Previously, Statcast calculations used the rulebook strike zone at home plate’s front edge based on each batter’s stance. This season, the system will calculate using the ABS strike zone measured at the plate’s center and determined by batter height.
Teams attempted to prepare players through ABS-assisted batting practice and scoreboard displays showing ball-strike decisions.
Count situations like 1-1 frequently determine at-bat outcomes. Nola experienced ABS during three rehabilitation appearances at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last August.
“We’re just going to have to see what the umpires do,” he said, “if they’re really going to be that tight as they were down there.”
Statcast data revealed that 1.6% of out-of-zone pitches received strike calls last season, declining from 2.1% in 2024 and representing the highest accuracy since tracking began in 2008 at 4.2%.
Meanwhile, 2.1% of in-zone pitches were incorrectly ruled balls, slightly increasing from 1.7% in 2024 but significantly better than 2008’s 4.3%.
Pitchers who succeeded by getting borderline calls may lose those advantages, while controversial missed calls could be overturned — such as Mark Langston’s 2-2 fastball to Tino Martinez during the 1998 World Series opener that crossed the plate above the knees but was called a ball by retired umpire Richie Garcia. Martinez hit a game-changing grand slam on the following pitch, propelling the Yankees to a 9-6 victory and eventual four-game championship sweep.
Garcia doesn’t wish ABS had existed during his career.
“I’d rather take the grief,” he said.
