“The zone stretched its legs.”
What this shows — how Ron Kulpa called the 147 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone, or, on a pitch the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike System) reviewed on a challenge, against its ruling. 138 were right. Below, only the misses are plotted, alongside every challenged pitch.
The zone, as he called it
The calls that moved the game
- 1-0.39▼6 · 2-2 ball called strike· challenged ✓
Riley Greene vs Mark Manfredi - 2-0.20▲9 · 2-1 ball called strike· challenged ✓
Zac Veen vs Brant Hurter - 3+0.19▼3 · 2-0 strike called ball
Zach McKinstry vs Mason Adams
Run impact from the count run-value table: a missed strike three is worth far more than one on 3-0.
ABS — the Automated Ball-Strike System
4 pitches went to the robots · 3 overturned (ump overruled) · 1 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.
- 1Cole Carrigg — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
- 2Riley Greene — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
- 3Spencer Torkelson — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
- 4Zac Veen — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 4 of 4 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone). Where the two disagree, the umpire is graded on the ABS ruling.