22 November 2013

2013 Strikezone Analysis: Teams Summary

As previously discussed, the strikezone was called very consistently over the course of the 2013 season. However, that does not mean that there was not some variation of the strikezone for different teams, acknowledging small sample size caveats for teams outside of the American League East.

Over the course of the season, there is no statistical correlation between call differential, (O's BcS + Opps. ScB) - (O's ScB + Opps. BcS), and run differential. The correlation coefficient is just .0099.

(Note: BcS are balls called strikes and ScB are strikes called balls.)


On the surface, the "Yankee Strikezone" appears to exist (as well as a "Rays Strikezone"). Each one of the American League East teams will receive a more detailed write-up later. Below are samples of the overall season data for the Orioles against each opponent.


Real Strikezone
Baltimore Pitching Opponent Pitching
Correct BcS ScB Correct BcS ScB
Season 89.14% 9.87% 13.19% 89.20% 9.17% 14.47%
Boston Red Sox 88.65% 9.88% 14.49% 88.69% 9.42% 15.70%
Tampa Bay Rays 88.81% 8.91% 16.81% 89.26% 9.57% 13.48%
New York Yankees 89.79% 9.48% 12.10% 88.74% 10.95% 11.92%
Toronto Blue Jays 88.00% 11.97% 12.06% 90.06% 7.98% 14.38%
Detroit Tigers 92.35% 7.19% 8.85% 88.03% 9.55% 16.88%
Cleveland Indians 92.36% 7.87% 7.10% 88.55% 9.07% 16.30%
Kansas City Royals 87.11% 12.65% 13.42% 92.59% 8.08% 5.84%
Minnesota Twins 86.91% 13.54% 11.97% 83.47% 14.49% 21.19%
Chicago White Sox 88.26% 9.48% 16.67% 90.12% 6.98% 16.46%
Oakland Athletics 88.99% 11.25% 10.43% 88.10% 10.58% 14.88%
Texas Rangers 91.50% 7.02% 12.32% 89.69% 6.84% 17.34%
Los Angeles Angels 87.84% 10.32% 16.67% 89.44% 8.61% 15.49%
Seattle Mariners 87.48% 11.23% 15.75% 89.61% 7.31% 17.42%
Houston Astros 91.13% 7.50% 12.21% 89.20% 8.71% 15.03%
Washington Nationals 90.31% 9.36% 10.34% 92.96% 6.77% 7.61%
Los Angeles Dodgers 85.87% 12.89% 17.07% 93.33% 6.25% 7.58%
Arizona Diamondbacks 91.17% 7.61% 11.63% 87.88% 14.12% 5.56%
San Diego Padres 90.00% 8.37% 13.79% 90.99% 8.64% 9.80%
San Francisco Giants 88.05% 13.27% 8.70% 90.24% 7.08% 15.69%
Colorado Rockies 93.53% 4.52% 10.39% 85.94% 7.91% 29.17%

Of note is the three game sweep by the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, which was a momentum-crushing series in August during what was an otherwise successful road trip out west. After taking 4 of 5 from San Diego and San Francisco, the O's would go on to lose 6 of 8 from Arizona, Colorado, and Tampa Bay. Against the Diamondbacks, the Orioles had 18 calls in their favor for the Rzone and 35 go against them. That -17 represents one of the largest differentials for a series on the season, ranking second behind only the April 16 - 18 series against Tampa Bay, which had a -20 differential. The best series for the Orioles was the September 24 - 26 series against Toronto, which had a +14 differential (almost all of which came from an astounding +16 in the middle game, called by Chris Guccione).


Typical Strikezone
Baltimore Pitching Opponent Pitching
Correct BcS ScB Correct BcS ScB
Season 86.92% 2.23% 27.30% 86.69% 1.86% 27.94%

Boston Red Sox 86.04% 1.93% 28.13% 86.45% 2.71% 28.23%
Tampa Bay Rays 85.85% 2.02% 30.76% 87.79% 2.65% 25.60%
New York Yankees 87.03% 1.80% 28.32% 87.42% 2.29% 24.83%
Toronto Blue Jays 86.49% 2.88% 26.42% 86.74% 1.47% 28.62%
Detroit Tigers 88.64% 2.81% 25.00% 82.91% 2.48% 32.74%
Cleveland Indians 90.73% 2.44% 19.37% 86.05% 3.19% 27.64%
Kansas City Royals 85.86% 2.73% 27.11% 91.03% 1.00% 20.09%
Minnesota Twins 87.73% 3.27% 23.83% 84.48% 2.29% 30.34%
Chicago White Sox 88.68% 1.45% 24.75% 84.69% 0.70% 33.19%
Oakland Athletics 88.46% 2.42% 23.97% 87.00% 0.68% 27.60%
Texas Rangers 86.23% 2.38% 30.50% 84.35% 0.72% 32.65%
Los Angeles Angels 85.95% 1.49% 30.14% 86.45% 2.36% 29.76%
Seattle Mariners 85.52% 2.11% 30.09% 86.61% 0.81% 30.27%
Houston Astros 88.03% 1.87% 26.78% 86.18% 0.81% 28.57%
Washington Nationals 87.98% 3.50% 22.61% 88.03% 0.00% 25.76%
Los Angeles Dodgers 86.96% 1.96% 26.83% 85.71% 1.75% 29.17%
Arizona Diamondbacks 86.22% 1.89% 29.03% 89.18% 2.90% 22.58%
San Diego Padres 86.90% 1.22% 28.57% 89.44% 1.64% 22.30%
San Francisco Giants 88.05% 5.38% 21.21% 87.20% 1.06% 28.57%
Colorado Rockies 86.64% 0.79% 28.57% 84.34% 0.68% 37.25%

The umpires sure did give the Orioles a hand in the Giants series. On the other hand, against 3 out of 4 AL East teams, the umpires called a tighter Tzone than average for the Orioles and a looser Tzone than average for their opponents.


Borderline Pitches
Baltimore Pitching Opponent Pitching
Strikes T-R Strikes Strikes T-R Strikes
Season  51.64% 41.81% 49.88% 40.43%
Boston Red Sox 48.74% 40.65% 48.18% 40.88%
Tampa Bay Rays 45.41% 38.89% 48.63% 43.75%
New York Yankees 51.70% 40.41% 55.00% 45.20%
Toronto Blue Jays 60.67% 44.98% 57.67% 36.96%
Detroit Tigers 53.49% 32.56% 41.82% 33.33%
Cleveland Indians 56.25% 41.51% 47.62% 38.71%
Kansas City Royals 54.89% 46.05% 55.38% 43.33%
Minnesota Twins 58.18% 52.78% 50.00% 53.01%
Chicago White Sox 52.21% 51.92% 47.33% 31.08%
Oakland Athletics 53.28% 48.10% 55.10% 46.34%
Texas Rangers 38.89% 29.03% 34.90% 30.56%
Los Angeles Angels 48.06% 43.66% 48.28% 38.10%
Seattle Mariners 50.00% 43.75% 38.14% 37.74%
Houston Astros 51.49% 36.54% 53.51% 39.06%
Washington Nationals 55.00% 39.29% 52.94% 32.50%
Los Angeles Dodgers 52.11% 53.66% 43.75% 23.33%
Arizona Diamondbacks 52.24% 31.58% 60.78% 53.85%
San Diego Padres 51.32% 38.46% 48.15% 43.24%
San Francisco Giants 70.00% 50.00% 48.94% 36.84%
Colorado Rockies 47.06% 21.43% 48.39% 43.33%

The NL West, against whom the Orioles played the fewest games, again shows the highest variability in Orioles borderline strikes compared to their opponents. Against the AL East, with much larger sample sizes, the Orioles were even with the Red Sox, had an advantage against Toronto, and had significant disadvantages against the Yankees and Rays.

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