‘0.78cm difference?’ KBO refutes Ryu Hyun-jin, questions are not completely resolved… “The first and second days are completely different” : ZUM News

[스포티비뉴스=대전, 김민경 기자] “In the past, this stadium was like this and other stadiums were like this, but on that day, the first and second days were completely different.”

Hanwha Eagles coach Choi Won-ho mentioned ABS (Automatic Ball Assessment System) ahead of the game against the Doosan Bears in the ‘2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League’ held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park on the 26th. Ace Ryu Hyun-jin claimed that the ABS decision was inconsistent after starting against Suwon KT Wiz on the 24th and allowing only 7 runs (5 earned runs) in 5 innings, and Coach Choi also agreed with Ryu Hyun-jin’s opinion. It was claimed that the strike zone identified when Moon Dong-ju took the mound in the first game of the series against KT on the 23rd was slightly different from the strike zone when Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound. Then, the KBO issued a press release on the 26th and refuted that there was no problem with the ABS decision raised by Ryu Hyun-jin.

Regarding the KBO’s rebuttal before the game on the 26th, Coach Choi first said, “Actually, we hear it through the players on the field. We (the coaches) don’t know because we haven’t gone out and tried it ourselves, but when we heard it through the players, it seems that the players on our team are players on other teams. It is true that they are a little more sensitive to the team atmosphere than others, and it is true that the coaches are also agitated when they hear such things from the players.” The reason the coaches have no choice but to judge based on the voices of the players is because the club does not have cumulative ABS-related data. Related data is stored only by KBO. The raw data presented by the KBO to refute Ryu Hyun-jin’s opinion is data that is not immediately shared with the club. Therefore, Ryu Hyun-jin and his players have no choice but to judge based on the values ​​displayed on the ABS tablet at each time. The KBO released some data to refute the issues raised by Ryu Hyun-jin, but it concluded that there was no difference in the strike zone on the 23rd and 24th, and there is insufficient published data to resolve players’ questions.

Manager Choi believed that on the 23rd, when right-hander Moon Dong-ju played, the strike zone was relatively generous on the outside for left-handed hitters and on the inside for right-handed hitters. Left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin said he drew up a game plan for the 24th based on the results of Moon Dong-ju’s ABS decision. Ryu Hyun-jin is a pitcher whose strength is his pitch control, and he pitches freely using the corners of the strike zone. This is why understanding the strike zone is very important. Therefore, Ryu Hyun-jin usually stays in the dugout in front of the tablet that transmits ABS decision results every game. This means that he is keenly aware of the area where strikes and balls separate.

However, while Ryu Hyun-jin played the game on the 24th, he had a strong feeling that the zone was slightly different from the 23rd. Ryu Hyun-jin threw three outside fastballs to left-handed hitter Cheon Seong-ho in the first inning. He only had different heights, but he could also see the ball across the board. However, all three balls were ruled balls. Of course, Ryu Hyun-jin caught Cheon Seong-ho in a 3-ball count, but it was a moment when Hanwha’s game plan was shaken.

Afterwards, Ryu Hyun-jin threw many balls toward the border line, but the ABS did not catch them. During Cho Yong-ho’s at-bat in the third inning, Ryu Hyun-jin tilted his head and even sent a signal to the dugout to check the ABS zone. In the end, Ryu Hyun-jin, who failed to adapt to the zone, had no choice but to move a little closer to the center, and KT’s batters made good contact with it and were able to put balls in play, and some lucky hits led to hits, and even riding on Hanwha’s defense mistakes, he scored 3 runs in the 3rd inning. We were able to score 4 points in the 4th inning. This is why Ryu Hyun-jin and Coach Choi raised their voices ahead of the Suwon KT game on the 25th, saying that ABS is inconsistent not only from stadium to stadium, but also from game to game.

According to tracking data from Trackman, which provides tracking data to the nine KBO teams, Seong-ho Cheon’s three balls could have been considered to be in the strike zone if someone had seen them in the past. This is why there was a saying within KT, “We thought it was a strike, but it was ruled a ball.” TrackMan tracks the ball in real time using radar. Since the PTS system used by the ABS system is not an actual measurement, it can be viewed as slightly more accurate data.

However, the judgment is ambiguous because the ball must pass both the middle and the end of the strike zone. TrackMan’s data analyzed to date only shows the last location. And he didn’t catch all three balls consistently anyway. There was no location to analyze Moon Dong-ju’s ball on the 23rd and Ryu Hyun-jin’s ball on the 24th in a perfect comparison. It can be confirmed that on the course where Moon Dong-ju’s ball was considered a strike, Ryu Hyun-jin’s ball, which was slightly further out, was ruled a ball. It is a very complicated problem because there are differences in the trajectories of left-handers and right-handers. There are suspicions that the zone was slightly different in each game, but at least the zone within that game was consistent for both sides.

When veteran Ryu Hyun-jin unusually complained about ABS, the KBO immediately sent out rebuttal materials. KBO released the data, saying, “There are many inquiries about ABS judgment data regarding Hanwha Ryu Hyun-jin’s specific pitch against Suwon KT on the 24th and Hanwha Moon Dong-ju’s specific pitch against Suwon KT on the 23rd.”

As a specific example, the KBO stated, “The third pitch of KT Cho Yong-ho’s at-bat at the end of the third inning in which Ryu Hyun-jin pitched passed the bottom of the ABS middle zone by 0.15 cm, but failed to pass the bottom of the ABS end zone by 0.78 cm, so it was ruled a ball.” explained.

“Also, you can see in the graphic the 4 pitches of KT Cheon Seong-ho’s at-bat in the bottom of the 4th inning pitched by Moon Dong-ju on the 23rd (strike decision), and the 3 pitches of KT Cheon Seong-ho’s at-bat in the bottom of the 1st inning pitched by Ryu Hyun-jin on the 24th (ball decision). “It seems like the pitched location is different,” he explained.

According to data released by the KBO, in the game on the 23rd, Moon Dong-joo’s four balls thrown toward Cheon Seong-ho in the bottom of the fourth inning were ruled a strike. It was an outside course for left-handed hitters. When he looked at the pitcher information, he received a strike of 22.60 cm left and right in the middle, 71.22 cm in the top and bottom of the middle, and 69.27 cm in the top and bottom of the end.

On the other hand, in the game on the 24th, Cheon Seong-ho’s 3 balls (Ryu Hyun-jin) in the first inning were 29.60 cm left and right in the middle, 65.35 cm in the top and bottom of the middle, and 63.10 cm in the top and bottom of the ends. It can be seen that there was a slight difference.

Also, in the game on the 24th, Cho Yong-ho’s 3rd ball in the 3rd inning was -8.39cm left and right in the middle, 44.30cm up and down in the middle, and 41.87cm in the end. This ball passed 0.15cm above the middle of the zone, but did not pass because it fell 0.78cm below the end. Cho Yong-ho and Cheon Seong-ho have different heights, so the top and bottom of the zone are different. Seongho Cheon’s top is 3.437 feet and the bottom is 1.686 feet, while Cho Yong-ho’s top is 3.195 feet and the bottom is 1.567 feet.

Cho Yong-ho’s three pitches in the 5th inning, in which Ryu Hyun-jin showed his dissatisfaction even after striking out, were judged as strikes with 25.59cm left and right in the middle, 69.24cm up and down in the middle, and 67.21cm up and down in the end.

In fact, 0.78 cm is a difference that players can sensitively accept. This means that if it were a human umpire, the difference would be such that the batter would not be able to refute even if the decision was a strike. In addition, the data presented by KBO proved that it was difficult for Ryu Hyun-jin to be judged as a strike due to the difference of 0.78 cm, but the question of whether the strike zone was applied the same for the games on the 23rd and 24th was not sufficiently resolved.

Coach Choi said, “The numbers and the players’ feelings do not match up exactly. The reason why there is such criticism is that this stadium is like this, but other stadiums are like this. It is said that the first and second days are completely different. This is how the players When we talk about it, we get suspicious. Also, since we have been on a losing streak (5 consecutive losses), the players are trying to win by any means possible, but they are probably more sensitive than the players on other teams because of that (the decisions). Anyway, it is true that the first and second games were a little chaotic due to issues with the decisions, as were the pitchers and catchers, as well as the batters,” he said, adding that he made a well-reasoned protest on the field. .