Baseball By The Numbers By Michael Salfino

August 25, 2006
Does QuesTec Favor Hitters?

Wondering why so many Chicago White Sox pitchers have been disappointing this year? So are they. And they think they have an answer: QuesTec’s Umpire Information System (UIS), used by baseball to evaluate how umpires call balls and strikes.

UIS places four cameras at the strategic locations at the ballpark so that the actual location of each pitch can be precisely recorded. The results are fed into a computer and umpires are graded as to whether they accurately called each pitch taken throughout the game.

The system has been in 10 parks since 2001. Controversy soon followed, with umpires filing a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to ban the technology and Curt Schilling famously smashing one of the cameras with a Louisville Slugger in the middle of a game. This season, Major League Baseball quietly added the QuesTec camera’s to the White Sox park, U.S. Cellular.

“We don’t make excuses,” White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said recently in the Daily Southtown before proceeding to blame “the bleeping cameras” for tighter strike zones.

Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland are cited as the pitchers most unfairly affected by QuesTec, as they are finesse pitchers who need generous corners.

But have they fared significantly worse at home or is this not only an excuse but a demonstrably false one?

At home this year, Buehrle has a 4.26 ERA and a .259 batting average against. A decline from last year, for sure. But on the road this year (i.e., without QuesTec), Buehrle has a 5.69 ERA and has allowed opposing hitters a .329 average.

What about Garland? Again, better at home, with QuesTec (3.88 ERA and a .286 average allowed vs. 4.88 and .291 on the road). These home/road splits show that QuesTec is a straw man for the pitchers’ poor overall performances.

Overall, the White Sox have a 4.09 ERA at home and a 5.08 ERA on the road. Clearly, QuesTec is not influencing umpires in a way that benefits hitters as Cooper claims. In fact, the opposite appears to be true, as U.S. Cellular previously played as an extreme hitters’ park.

What about the other stadiums that use QuesTec? Are the hitters helped there by tighter strikezones? Only the Diamondbacks seem to be adversely effected at all (5.00 ERA at home, 4.24 on the road). But their park has always favored hitters. Every other team that plays in a QuesTec park pitchers better at home than on the road, in many cases, much better. And the remaining nine stadiums have all been neutral or hitting parks except for Jacobs Field (Indians), Shea (Mets) and McAfee Coliseum (A’s).

Enough with the silly excuses. On to some player recommendations.

Buy

Jake Peavy, P, Padres: Okay, one more silly excuse. Peavy, who is legally blind, didn’t receive contacts he ordered in March until last week. Now, he says, he can finally see the catcher’s signs. It’s “Federal” Express, Jake, not “Pony.” His strikeout/walk ratio remains outstanding and he’s gotten very poor run support (seven losses allowing three runs or less).

Mark Teahen, 3B, Royals: He’s been one of the best hitters in baseball since being recalled in June. Since the All-Star break, he’s been Pujols-like: .346/.434/.647. He’s commanding the strike zone, too (almost as many walks as strikeouts since the break).

Hold

David Wright, 3B, Mets: Keith Hernandez says Wright is overextending himself with day-time appearances. Wright says he’s fine and that, sometimes, a slump is just a slump (.211/.282/.296 in August).

Sell

Joe Mauer, C, Twins: He admits he’s wearing down. It’s almost impossible to withstand the rigors of catching without it affecting your hitting (.378 before the Break, .310 since and it’s likely to get worse unless he starts getting time at DH).

Mike Jacobs, 1B, Marlins: A bad ankle has robbed him of much of his power (slugging .281 in August). He’s playing through it but that’s not helping you.

Chris Young, P, Padres: Another guy playing through pain (shoulder). The results have been predictably bad (6.10 ERA since the Break with a dramatic increase in walks).