San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb has led baseball over the last several years in throwing pitches that were actually balls but still called strikes. And he has also been one of the best pitchers in baseball. His strength has been pitching on the edges of the plate. Last year he had over 90 pitches that were called strikes but were actually balls. It may not seem like a huge number when you consider the amount of pitches he throws in a season, but you also have to remember that those are just the pitches that were called strikes. That does not take into account the pitches that were swung at because of the strike calls he was getting. He was getting batters to swing at and make weak contact on pitches because they felt like they were going to get called strikes. This year, Major League Baseball introduced the ABS Challenge System. Now that pitches can be challenged, the strike zone has changed for pitchers like Webb who are not overpowering, but instead work the edges of the plate. Webb has struggled this year, and I am sure many pitchers like him have struggled as well. I am not making excuses for Webb. The system has changed, and pitchers like him will have to adjust. I just wonder if the game will now become even more of a power pitcher’s game. Would pitchers like Greg Maddux and Bret Saberhagen have the same success in today’s baseball? I still think great pitchers would find ways to succeed because command and intelligence matter in every era. But there is no doubt that the ABS system changes the advantage for pitchers who built careers around getting borderline calls. A pitcher like Maddux was famous for living just off the corner and forcing hitters to protect against pitches that umpires consistently called strikes. If those pitches are no longer strikes, then hitters can become more selective and force pitchers back into the middle of the plate. This is exactly what is happening to Logan Webb, and hitters are making hard contact against him, which really never happened before. That will absolutely push baseball even further toward velocity and power pitching. Pitchers can no longer rely on framing and reputation, so swings and misses become even more important. The San Francisco Giants even traded one of the best framing catchers in baseball, Patrick Bailey, because they are just not as important anymore. Baseball will become more about pitchers who can overpower hitters rather than pitchers who specialize in movement, control, and changing speeds. That does not mean finesse pitchers can no longer have success, but the margin for error may become much smaller than it used to be, and so far this season Logan Webb has paid for that margin of error.
