Umpire scouting as a factor in game planning - how important?

[HelenaEngineer]

Does anyone have a feel for how much umpire tendencies are factored into pitching game plans? I was watching the Cubs - Padres last night with Phil Cuzzi behind the plate, and the Cubs got jobbed by any normal measure. In reality though. Cuzzi's strike zone was abnormally wide to the right side, but he was very consistent. I see a bad strike zone that the Padres took advantage of, or lucked into, but no indication of bias. Looking at previous Cuzzi games, he almost always has this pattern, so it would seem obvious that you would work off the plate on the right side to the degree you can get away with it.

I wonder if this an area of analytics where some teams are consistently better than other teams. Many umps seem to be better in terms of consistency than accuracy, so why not take advantage of that. I assume this takes place, but I don't hear a lot about it. Fan reaction is always that the game was rigged. If you look at the cumulative "overall favor" stat by team, it might be partially related to how good the teams are at this aspect and not just a factor of framing or pitcher's ability to hit targets.
 

 

[Tony-OH]

That's an interesting thought. A good catcher should always adjust his game calling and location if he feels he can get an advantage. Some of this probably comes up with good framing numbers for a catcher, but it would be interesting to see if this is catcher specific or team specific as whole.

[Three Run Homer]

Seems like something that smart teams and smart gamblers should account for.  Would be interesting to know whether over-under lines adjust for whether the home plate  umpire is pitcher-friendly or hitter-friendly.