Which Pitchers are Getting Calls, Getting Squeezed?

Which starting pitchers are benefiting from a generous strike zone this season? Which starters are grumbling as yet another borderline call goes the batter's way? Here's a quick rundown of pitchers with the highest and lowest called strike rates in 2013.

Highest called strike rates on in-zone pitches

Overall, umps call about four out of every five pitches taken in the zone a strike. But Jake Peavy is getting more credit for those over-the-plate-pitches than most. So are crafty lefties Mike Minor and Andy Pettitte. None of the guys in the top ten exactly lights up the radar gun. That makes sense, considering lower-velocity fastballs tend to get more called strikes than mid-90s heat.

Lowest called strike rate on in-zone pitches

On the flip side, Jon Niese has a reason to hold a grudge against Big Blue. The rest of the top ten is a mixed bag of power pitchers, breaking ball and off-speed reliant junk ballers and a knuckleballer. All of them are at a disadvantage in getting called strikes. High-velocity fastballs have lower called strike rates than slower ones, as mentioned above. Curveballs (81% called strike rate on in-zone pitches), sliders (79%) and changeups (78%) have lower called strike rates than fastballs (82%). And umps, like all other human beings on Earth, have a hard time figuring out what the heck a knuckleball is doing. Dating back to 2008, in-zone knucklers (a sample that basically amounts to pitches thrown by R.A. Dickey, Tim Wakefield and a few spot-starter aspirants) have a called strike rate of 73%.

Highest called strike rate on out-of-zone pitches

Interestingly, all of the starters getting calls on out-of-zone pitches are right-handers. It looks like they're taking advantage of umpires' tendency to stretch the outside corner for left-handed batters (the called strike rate on out-of-zone pitches thrown away to lefty batters is about 16%). Jeremy Hellickson (29%), Mat Latos (26%), Alex Cobb and Justin Verlander (23%) rank at the top of the list when it comes to getting calls on that outside corner versus lefty batters.

Lowest called strike rate on out-of-zone pitches

Pfft. Like Matt Harvey needs the help. Tim Lincecum, on the other hand...

Called Strikes out of the Strike Zone

(All 2011 games through May 16th - min. 100 pitches taken outside of the strike zone)

The first column indicates the total number of pitches the batter has taken outside of the pitchFX defined strike zone.  The second column shows what percent of taken pitches out of the strike zone were called strikes. Six New York Mets made the list - that's nearly a quarter of the top 25.  Call it the Madoff effect.  Oakland comes in second with 4 batters making the list.  The majority of these pitches are located off the outside edge of the zone as the following graphic indicates.

Called Strikes outside the Strike Zone in 2011

Here's a list of the batters that have had the least "non-strike" strikes called against them.

(All 2011 games through May 16th - min. 100 pitches taken outside of the strike zone)

It's interesting that Jeff Francoeur gets the smallest percent of bad strikes called against him.  The RHB ranks in the bottom 6% of the league in chasing pitches out of the zone.  Umpires apparently appreciate his free-swinging ways.