CINCINNATI -- It was not an excuse. Eric Thames has made very few of those as his magical April gave way to an average May through August. But what he views as an expanding strike zone is at least a factor, according to Thames, in explaining his slide in production over the past four months.
"There was a pitch [on Sunday] at my letters that was a strike," Thames said. "That pitch is unhittable. You can't hit that. But that's the way it is. Now, I'm learning to laugh at it. They say next year it's going to be even higher.