Are Orioles pitchers getting squeezed?

[Explosivo]

It seems like a trend now that borderline pitches are not going our way. Just now, Harvey made a perfect 0-2 pitch with a fastball on the outside corner, right on the black, yet it’s called a ball. Abreu works the count back to 2-2 and gets a flare of an rbi single. This same thing happened a couple of days ago and I’m starting to see that our pitchers seem to have a different strike zone. Obviously I’m biased but are you guys seeing this too?

[Can_of_corn]

The catchers suck at framing.

[forphase1]

The umpires suck at calling balls and strikes.  I don't think it's been specifically against us,  but they have been bad.   One strikeout today for Harvey was clearly a ball.

[Can_of_corn]

19 minutes ago, forphase1 said:

The umpires suck at calling balls and strikes.  I don't think it's been specifically against us,  but they have been bad.   One strikeout today for Harvey was clearly a ball.

I posted a link to a Reddit post showing that the O's in particular weren't getting calls.  I think it's the catching.

[forphase1]

I'm not defending our catching as it's been pathetic,  both behind the plate and with the bat.   But the umps have been very inconsistent so far this year,  with many questionable calls.  I look forward to the day when both catcher framing and umpire errors with the strike zone are no longer a topic of discussion. 

[LocoChris]

I think there was a thread earlier about how biased the umps have been against the Orioles this year, so I have no doubt that they’re getting squeezed. I don’t think it’s really mattered much though. 

[Moose Milligan]

Yes, the umpires are here just to #^*@ us.

[SilverRocket]

That call gave the White Sox a run, and then Mountcastle got rung up on ball 4 before Nevin hit the double. I don't know that it's as much bias as it is Angel Hernandez.

[LocoChris]

11 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yes, the umpires are here just to #^*@ us.

I'm not saying there's any intent behind it, or at least it's not malicious, but it's possible umps just don't give bad teams close calls. Probably subconscious. 

[LocoChris]

I knew it -- here's the thread

[eddie83]

Did Maddux get more borderline calls than other pitchers? My guess is yes. Did Boggs get close pitches to be called his way. My guess is yes. Have no data to back that up. 
 

Like Corn said the catchers suck and in general we don’t have command arms outside of Means. 

[Moose Milligan]

27 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Did Maddux get more borderline calls than other pitchers? My guess is yes. Did Boggs get close pitches to be called his way. My guess is yes. Have no data to back that up. 
 

Like Corn said the catchers suck and in general we don’t have command arms outside of Means. 

Michael Jordan got calls.  Yeah, great players get the benefit of the doubt.  

But I swear, the whole "umpires are screwing us" is one of the most tiresome tropes on here.  The Orioles haven't been terrible for almost all my life because of the umpiring.  Umpiring doesn't have anything to do with our pitchers leaving balls out over the middle of the plate to get hammered.  Umpiring doesn't have anything to do with our straight up lack of talent.  And eddie83, I'm not saying you're saying that here, I'm just complaining about it in general.  It's a sad sack, losing attitude that comes from loser fans of a loser franchise.  

[Oriole1940]

It for these reasons and others unmentioned,  that I have screamed for YEARS to use electronic  pitch calling.  I do not know if that is the answer, but I would like to see if it is.  I would wager it is certainly no worse that what we have now.  Of course, that would eleminate the age old baseball cry of  KILL THE UMP,  from an earlier age in baseball.

[Sports Guy]

53 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yes, the umpires are here just to #^*@ us.

Yea, it has nothing to do with our pitchers sucking or Hernandez being one of the worst umpires in MLB history.

Its a conspiracy against us!

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Michael Jordan got calls.  Yeah, great players get the benefit of the doubt.  

But I swear, the whole "umpires are screwing us" is one of the most tiresome tropes on here.  The Orioles haven't been terrible for almost all my life because of the umpiring.  Umpiring doesn't have anything to do with our pitchers leaving balls out over the middle of the plate to get hammered.  Umpiring doesn't have anything to do with our straight up lack of talent.  And eddie83, I'm not saying you're saying that here, I'm just complaining about it in general.  It's a sad sack, losing attitude that comes from loser fans of a loser franchise.  

I hear you. 
 

I remember when the Ravens came to town they had the ability to find ways to lose close games all the time. The bad calls stuck out. When you are up 17 with 3 minutes left those bad calls don’t matter as much. 
 

The “breaks” always seem to benefit the better team.