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Called Strike

The pitch comes in, the batter does not swing, and the umpire judges that the pitch is in the strike zone. At this point, the umpire will call a strike via a hand signal that usually involves pointing to the side.

By rule, in order to be called a strike, some part of the ball has to travel through a portion of the strike zone. There is nothing about “at least 10% of the ball must be in the zone,” or “the ball must stay in the strike zone the entire way through said zone.” If the umpire judges that the ball merely touches the zone, then they can call the pitch a strike. In practice, this means that the edges of the strike zone tend to be a little fuzzy about which pitches are called balls, and which are called strikes¹. Remember, if you’re watching a game on TV, and the broadcast includes any sort of “strike zone” super-imposed on the image, that little box is only an estimation of the zone, and should not be considered official.

One important element in how a pitch is called is how the catcher receives that pitch. There is a skill known as “pitch framing,” and depending on whom you talk to, pitch framing is either a way for a catcher to ensure that the umpire calls pitches as strikes by presenting them as strikes, or a way for a catcher to “steal” strikes that should not have been called as such. Generally, when pitch framing is done well, you barely notice it. When it’s done poorly, you see the catcher jerking their mitt back towards the center of the strike zone, no matter where the pitch comes in. Either way, pitch framing is a part of how catching defense is valued, and a part of how umpires perceive and call pitches.

If, on the other hand, all this talk of pitch “framing” or “stealing” sounds a little too much like cheating, good news! The batter has a higher authority— the Automated Ball Strike System, or ABS— they can appeal to, if they think they have been hosed by a bad call.