DENVER – The concept of pitching framing is nothing new. It goes back over a hundred years to the game’s beginnings. As long as human perception remains imperfect, and balls and strikes remain called by humans, the game-within-a-game that the catcher plays with the umpire will remain.
But the game has changed.
Where almost a decade ago, many if not most statisticians scoffed at the idea of catcher pitch framing as a valuable skill, today stats measuring exactly that are the new hot thing.
“That’s become very trendy the last number of years with all the data that’s been accumulated,” said Bud Black before Tuesday night’s game between the Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.