Maybe we missed the memo on this one, but does anyone know what's happened to the pitch tracking technology which goes by K-Zone on ESPN and a jumble of other names on regional broadcasts?We've watched a fair bit of baseball this season on a number of different broadcasters, and we've noticed that this tool, in its varying forms, isn't being used at all this year. We know that baseball has switched strike zone information providers from QuesTec to Zone Evaluation, which may explain the absence of the graphic.
For those of you who track this sort of thing, is there any difference in the pitch data that is being made available this year?
Good call. Fuck, I miss the K-Zone now!
ReplyDelete....cue Cinderella's epic "Don't Know What You Got..."
I don't really track it, but the pitch fx data on MLB Gameday is about the same.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the K Zone I don't really miss it, I only ever really saw it a lot on Sportsnet and the one they had was garbarge. Things that were clearly strikes would show outside the box.
Yeah, we're not sure how useful it was, but there were a couple of calls at one point on a NESN broadcast where we expected them to show it.
ReplyDeleteThey took it out as a result of MLBPA demands: batters found the yellow box distracting.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of many operators for MLB Advanced Media's system that tracks pitches. Apparently some networks aren't using it this season because of budgets. I'm not sure about the rest.
ReplyDeleteI miss it, too.
I'll admit I like Joe Morgan's pitch breakdown on Sunday Night Baseball.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Well, because it very clearly demonstrates how a pitcher goes about battling a hitter and the strategy involved. It shows patterns, flukes and misses. It's nuance.