MLB is moving towards uniform Strike Zone TV image for all teams and individual image for each batter.

Strike Zone is imaginary. Replace it (and catcher & plate umpire) with physical no tech target.  Monday, March 30, 2026

For me the biggest thing I learned from the new Strike Zone (SZ) challenge system implemented in 2026, is that all "edges" of the SZ require only the barest minimum of overlap with the pitch. I knew that was true for the horizontal inside and outside edge of home plate but it's also the ill-defined vertical top and bottom. And most amazingly, all four unnecessary corners...

And this deals only with the flat rectangular SZ image and completely ignores its depth. It's an imaginary three dimensional area hovering above but not touching home plate. Nothing touches the SZ. That makes it imaginary.

No wonder the plate umpire is being humiliated in 2026 with so many successful challenges of the ump's calls of balls and strikes. The purpose of the SZ is to force the pitcher to throw the ball where the batter can hit it...

For fun ask people to touch the top of their SZ. To do so they would need to know the rule. Then guess.

Why does the SZ vary? Each batter gets a personal SZ, probably altered even more when the batter has two strikes: maybe he crouches just a little more.

Presumably that's because batters are different sizes. But it only varies vertically, not horizontally, where it is defined as the width of home plate: 17 inches plus the diameter of the ball (about 2.9 inches) on each side. So almost 23 inches. Why doesn't SZ height vary also? What the heck kind of cockamamie sense does that make?

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The box we've seen on TV in recent years representing the Strike Zone (SZ) didn't seem quite right. For last night's Yankee game I froze the image for a couple of batters and measured as best I could. This confirmed my suspicion that it was the same for all batters. And it was almost a square. You would expect that it would be noticeably longer vertically. It certainly was not for 6'7" Aaron Judge. For 5'11" Jazz Chisholm the horizontal top was below his waist. It should be half way between his "shoulders and the top of the uniform pants".

So I ran a basic query and got a bunch of interesting stuff about the image of the imaginary SZ for the 2026 season with the implementation of the challenge system.

Strike Zone image: do all MLB teams use the same one?

https://www.google.com/search?q=strike+zone+image%3A+do+all+mlb+teams+use+the+same+one%3F&rlz=1CAJYXH_enUS1170US1170&oq=strike+zone+image%3A+do+all+mlb+teams+use+the+same+one%3F&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAjIHCAIQIRiPAjIHCAMQIRiPAtIBCTI1NDY4ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

AI Overview

No

, not all Major League Baseball (MLB) teams use the exact same strike zone image or graphic on their local broadcasts, although that is changing with the introduction of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system in 2026. 

Here is the breakdown of the strike zone graphics as of the 2026 season:

1. The Shift to Consistency (2026) 

With the introduction of the ABS "Challenge System" in 2026, MLB has moved toward more uniform, data-driven strike zones. 

• Unified Data: The strike zone data used for all broadcasts is now based on the ABS system, which calculates a unique zone for each batter based on their height (53.5% of height for the top, 27% for the bottom).
• Removal of Live "Ball/Strike" Labeling: To prevent teams from exploiting the feed, MLB has asked broadcasters to remove the dot that immediately indicates if a pitch is a ball or a strike.
• Broadcast Discretion: While the underlying data is the same, individual television networks (e.g., YES Network, NESN) still have control over the aesthetic, color, and design of their specific on-screen overlay. 

2. Historical Differences (Pre-2026)

Before the 2026 mandated consistency, the strike zone box was largely a "graphics estimate" and varied significantly by network: 

• Network Variations: Different networks used different technology partners, resulting in different shapes, sizes, and colors for the box.
• Angle Differences: Because the boxes are overlaid on a 2D screen from a camera behind the center field, the angle could make the box appear slightly different in each stadium, depending on the camera placement.
• Accuracy Issues: Some broadcast boxes were notoriously inaccurate compared to the actual Statcast data. 

3. Key Differences in the 2026 ABS Era

• Broadcast vs. Official: The box you see on TV is a graphic overlay, whereas the official challenge system uses Hawk-Eye cameras (12 per stadium) to determine the actual 3D location of the ball at the midpoint of the plate.
• No More "In-the-Moment" Verdict: As of 2026, broadcasts show the box to aid the viewer, but they will not explicitly label the pitch as a "ball" or "strike" in real-time, leaving that for the viewer to determine, or to be determined by a challenge. 

In summary, while the standardized 3D data behind the strike zone is now uniform for all teams in 2026, the visual presentation (image) of that zone can still vary by broadcast network.

Deeper dive:

Would you like to know more about how players can now challenge these calls using the new ABS technology?

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Strike Zone is imaginary. Replace it (and catcher & plate umpire) with physical no tech target.

For me the biggest thing I learned from the new Strike Zone (SZ) challenge system implemented in 2026, is that all "edges" of the SZ require only the barest minimum of overlap with the pitch. I knew that was true for the horizontal inside and outside edge of home plate but it's also the ill-defined vertical top and bottom. And most amazingly, all four unnecessary corners.

Babe Ruth and Ted Williams are the two greatest hitters of all time. Williams wrote a book on hitting, which included a rectangle filled with baseballs containing Ted's batting average (BA) guess for himself for each ball. Ted's lowest was the low outside corner: .230. His real career BA was .344 overall. But all of those balls were inside the rectangle. The SZ includes additional balls that border the entire outside of that rectangle. We can only assume that Ted would give himself a lower BA guess for a ball that touched the elusive low outside corner.

https://tedwilliams.com/_data/hzone.htm

And this deals only with the flat rectangular SZ image and completely ignores its depth. It's an imaginary three dimensional area hovering above but not touching home plate. Nothing touches the SZ. That makes it imaginary.

No wonder the plate umpire is being humiliated in 2026 with so many successful challenges of the ump's calls of balls and strikes. The purpose of the SZ is to force the pitcher to throw the ball where the batter can hit it.

In the other two team sports in the USA, there is no equivalent of the SZ. They would be no basket in basketball and no goal post in football. The officials simply decide whether a shot or kick would go through the real thing.

But baseball has no real thing. And baseball fans accept that. Why? Because it's been that way for so long.

The solution is a physical target. Hit it and it's a strike. It almost doesn't matter what the target is: bull's eye, horizontal barrel, ... Something round with no corners, about 20 inches in diameter. Let batters place it between their knees and shoulders directly behind home plate.

What about the catcher & plate umpire? Move them out of harm's way and eliminate concussions from foul balls: behind a protective screen behind the SZ target or behind the pitcher. In either case, extend foul territory half the distance (45 feet) to first and third base and curved. Who likes dribblers deciding an at bat?

This radical change could be delayed with these simple improvements:

1. Eliminate the corners.

2. Require the ENTIRE ball be in the SZ.

3. Define the top and bottom as something understandable:

   ball completely above the top of the knee, not barely touching the bottom

   ball below the batter's shoulders.

Here's some junk that is not the actual rule:

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/rules/strike-zone

For fun ask people to touch the top of their SZ. To do so they would need to know the rule. Then guess.

Why does the SZ vary? Each batter gets a personal SZ, probably altered even more when the batter has two strikes: maybe he crouches just a little more.

Presumably that's because batters are different sizes. But it only varies vertically, not horizontally, where it is defined as the width of home plate: 17 inches plus the diameter of the ball (about 2.9 inches) on each side. So almost 23 inches. Why doesn't SZ height vary also? What the heck kind of cockamamie sense does that make?

Yankees - Giants: solo opening game today is some classic rivalry???

What? Have they had anything significant since the 1962 World Series?

The Dodgers won the two most recent WS, so shouldn't it be:

Dodgers - Giants?

OK, I'm ticked off that the Yankees are only on Netflix tonight because of a big new multi year TV deal with multiple companies by MLB but I have a point. Why are the Yankees opening in ____ San Francisco?

It's not the only inter league game: Detroit is in San Diego tomorrow. Why? Tigers - Padres is a classic?

San Francisco and San Diego are in the same division but New York and Detroit are not. It's not like NL West v. AL East. Detroit is AL Central.