Stolen from Tango: Propose Two Rule Changes

[DrungoHazewood]

Interesting idea, but what makes you think that going back to a strike zone which was the norm, in one form or another would lead to that change? I mean the last major adjustment in the zone was in 1969 when it went from the armpits to where it now sits in the upper zone. There was a minor adjustment in '88, but do you think there was a noticeable change in offensive output after the last upper zone change?

I think one of the biggest changes was the shift from the ump's outside chest protector to the inside, which allows them to set up right over the catcher's shoulder, and had the effect of lowering the top of the zone by 6" or more. I think that drove the redefinition (in the 90s maybe) of the top of the zone from the armpit to the current rule. For a decade or more the rulebook said armpits, but it was increasingly rare to have a strike called above the belt.

I think moving the top up would force a change, because players couldn't just stand there and take everything that wasn't in a very small, thigh-high area. Without changing hitting approaches, or batter types, the guys who now have 80 walks and 170 Ks a year would turn into guys who walk 40 times and strike out 225 and their OPSes would drop 100 points or more. It would drive a lot of today's rake-and-take sluggers out of the league, and they'd almost necessarily be replaced with players who could make more contact. And I think a current market inefficiency is in players who can hit but don't have bat speed. Guys like Luke Appling and Richie Ashburn are probably 36th-round picks today, or they get taught at 15 or 18 to pick up a 28-ounce bat and swing from the heels.