Ryan Jeffers is Setting Up His Pitchers to Maximize Strikes, After the Twins Changed the Way They Set Up Jeffers

I hope they figure out the ABS or robo ump system soon, so all this pitch framing stuff can go away.

8 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I hope they figure out the ABS or robo ump system soon, so all this pitch framing stuff can go away.

That's basically what this article is speculating. Pitch framing has gone away because Jeffers isn't trying to frame pitches anymore, he's setting pitchers up with an initial reference point of a full on meatball, and the pitcher is able to adjust based on that. This is possible because of the PitchCom system where the following is relayed to the pitcher after the last pitch "pitch".... "location" i.e. "slider... low and away" so the catcher doesn't need to position their glove where they'd like the actual pitch. Instead, by placing their glove at a center-center reference point, the pitcher can work off that reference to throw more strikes.

It doesn't seem viable to me. I'm not a pitcher, but regardless of the sport, you keep your eyes fixated on a location as much as possible to maximize your chances of hitting that location. That makes me believe it's not likely this is actually happening a lot with a pitcher if that pitcher who is showing good control during the game. Pitchers are definitely going to miss their spots more with the speculated method. They'll throw more strikes, and more meatballs that'll end up in the seats and I'd much rather have a ball or two called than a home run allowed.

Also, Vazquez has high framing numbers while Jeffers is poor in the category so lack of consistency with the catchers means this isn't likely a "Twins approach." Also, pitch framing often bounces around from year to year so I don't think it's a reliable or particularly valuable metric.

7 hours ago, Andrew Bryz-Gornia said:

I'm sure that coaching the pitchers to aim for the corners might lead to fewer home runs allowed, but likely would also cause the strikeout and walk rates to trend in the wrong directions as well. 

Home runs can be pretty dire though.  I'd give up a little on the K and BB rates to get a little better HR rate in return.

Your overall point is well taken, that these issues are all intertwined.  Elementary stats look static and easy to analyze, but I hope the Twins analytics staff know how to walk and chew gum at the same time when figuring out how to guide the on-field staff. (And vice versa.)

29 minutes ago, Reptevia said:

If I was an umpire, I’d call every “framed” pitch a ball. 

It's possible the two clauses of your sentence are even more closely related than you intended. 😀