Very Impressed With Variable Umps This Year

[CanOfCornCobb]

We all know that The Shows K-zone system works differently than it does in real life. For those that dont, a strike in The Show (w/ump zones off) is when the ball is 50% or> in the k-zone and in real life a strike is anytime the ball touches any part of the zone. I wanted to make this clear because im seeing a much larger variance in ball/strike calls with different umps in terms of how much of the ball actually lands in the k-zone this year. The BIGGEST improvement i have noticed so far is that most umps in the game no longer benefit the pitcher for catching the top of zone with a hanging slider or curveball. These are pitches i almost always take because out of the hand it looks like a fastball about a foot high until it breaks and ends up landing 50% or more in the k-zone. I havent seen this happen often, but when i did see it happen its been called a ball almost every time. This is coming from a guy who played with ump strike zone off last year because of stuff like this, however i am loving the variance i see this year. If the ball is on the black early in the count you can take, but with 2 strikes you better be swinging because you never know when you will get rung up. Anyone else notice the improvement/changes to the variable umps like I have?

[nemesis04]

I am seeing a lot more pitches within the strike zone being called a ball but I am not seeing the wide strike called at all. Not saying there needs to be a ton but I like to see a couple more pitcher's type umps in the game. I feel the umps are mostly hitter's umps.

[CanOfCornCobb]

Quote: Originally Posted by nemesis04

I am seeing a lot more pitches within the strike zone being called a ball but I am not seeing the wide strike called at all. Not saying there needs to be a ton but I like to see a couple more pitcher's type umps in the game. I feel the umps are mostly hitter's umps.

I will agree and disagree at the same time. It appears as tho the umps are hitters umps and most of the time they are, however I have noticed that the strike zone is positioned differently this year. It may be a "self fullfilling prophecy", but i am pretty sure the strike zone is wider (compared to last year), the top of the zone is now at the top of the belt, and the bottom of the strike zone is lower. I think they widened the zone to represent the "black" and make pitches on the black appear more random/hitter friendly, but it was a necessity because of the inability to get basehits on balls on the corners/just out of the zone last year (which im seeing more of this year). I think im on to something here in regards to the width of the zone, height of the zone, and base hits on the edges.