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Cederstrom: small strike zone, big scores
While it's rare for a player from a visiting team to get cheered at Yankee Stadium, it was a little strange that Texas Rangers southpaw Kenny Rogers was booed off the mound last Friday night.
After all, Rogers served up five home runs in four plus innings in a 7-6 loss to the Bronx Bombers.
Perhaps the Yankee faithful were not booing Rogers and were instead booing manager Buck Showalter for yanking the 39-year-old veteran.
Regardless, Rogers wasn't thinking about the boos after the game; he was more concerned about umpire Gary Cederstrom's slender strike zone.
"I really didn't feel if I made quality pitches that I'd get ahead in the count," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I wasn't hitting my spots and the corners weren't there, so I had to bring it up over the plate. My stuff isn't such that you can get away with that."
Showalter also felt Rogers was squeezed by Cederstrom.
"I thought he had a bunch of borderline pitches that didn't go his way," he said. The San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks will have to contend with Cederstrom's strike zone tonight in Phoenix (9:35 p.m. ET).
Now in his 10th year in the majors, Cederstrom has called 13 games so far this year. In those games, the 48-year-old North Dakota native has called 62.4 percent of the pitches he's seen as strikes. That's about average among umps, which doesn't seem to mesh with his reputation of having a tight strike zone.
Yet, that strike percentage is probably more a reflection of the fact that pitchers like Rogers know they have to throw over the plate in order to get Cederstrom to call strikes. Knowing this, hitters can be patient and wait for the gifts.
Thus, it comes as no surprise that Cederstrom has one of the highest over-under records in the league. In Cederstrom's 13 games behind the plate, 10 have gone over the posted total. Only two other active umps have seen more games go over this season, and both have over-under records of 12-3.
This is the fifth-straight season in which the over has prevailed with Cederstrom at the helm. Last year, Cederstrom's over-under record was 17-15, a big adjustment from the year before when it was a whopping 17-10 (63 percent), fifth highest in the majors.
In 2001, Cederstrom's over-under record was 20-15 (57.1 percent) good for 16th overall. Again, it was a big adjustment over the previous year when Cederstrom had the highest over-under record among all active umpires. His record that year was an eye-popping 24-7, meaning that more than 77 percent of his games topped the posted total.
So far this year, an average of 11.3 runs have crossed the plate when Cederstrom dons the mask, which is well above average.
Tonight, Cederstrom will call pitches for a couple of young right-handers - the Padres send Brian Lawrence (9-5, 3.87 ERA) to the mound to face the D-Backs' Brandon Webb (3-8, 3.88 ERA).
Although both pitchers have solid ERAs, neither one has been effective at keeping scores under the posted totals. Webb's over-under record is surprisingly high at 11-5, which ranks third highest among starters with 15 starts or more. Lawrence has an over-under record of 7-7.
Oddsmakers have set the total at nine, but it comes at a premium -120. The under is an even +100, and the Padres have been given the nod as favorites at around -118.
Cederstrom: small strike zone, big scores
While it's rare for a player from a visiting team to get cheered at Yankee Stadium, it was a little strange that Texas Rangers southpaw Kenny Rogers was booed off the mound last Friday night.
After all, Rogers served up five home runs in four plus innings in a 7-6 loss to the Bronx Bombers.
Perhaps the Yankee faithful were not booing Rogers and were instead booing manager Buck Showalter for yanking the 39-year-old veteran.
Regardless, Rogers wasn't thinking about the boos after the game; he was more concerned about umpire Gary Cederstrom's slender strike zone.
"I really didn't feel if I made quality pitches that I'd get ahead in the count," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I wasn't hitting my spots and the corners weren't there, so I had to bring it up over the plate. My stuff isn't such that you can get away with that."
Showalter also felt Rogers was squeezed by Cederstrom.
"I thought he had a bunch of borderline pitches that didn't go his way," he said. The San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks will have to contend with Cederstrom's strike zone tonight in Phoenix (9:35 p.m. ET).
Now in his 10th year in the majors, Cederstrom has called 13 games so far this year. In those games, the 48-year-old North Dakota native has called 62.4 percent of the pitches he's seen as strikes. That's about average among umps, which doesn't seem to mesh with his reputation of having a tight strike zone.
Yet, that strike percentage is probably more a reflection of the fact that pitchers like Rogers know they have to throw over the plate in order to get Cederstrom to call strikes. Knowing this, hitters can be patient and wait for the gifts.
Thus, it comes as no surprise that Cederstrom has one of the highest over-under records in the league. In Cederstrom's 13 games behind the plate, 10 have gone over the posted total. Only two other active umps have seen more games go over this season, and both have over-under records of 12-3.
This is the fifth-straight season in which the over has prevailed with Cederstrom at the helm. Last year, Cederstrom's over-under record was 17-15, a big adjustment from the year before when it was a whopping 17-10 (63 percent), fifth highest in the majors.
In 2001, Cederstrom's over-under record was 20-15 (57.1 percent) good for 16th overall. Again, it was a big adjustment over the previous year when Cederstrom had the highest over-under record among all active umpires. His record that year was an eye-popping 24-7, meaning that more than 77 percent of his games topped the posted total.
So far this year, an average of 11.3 runs have crossed the plate when Cederstrom dons the mask, which is well above average.
Tonight, Cederstrom will call pitches for a couple of young right-handers - the Padres send Brian Lawrence (9-5, 3.87 ERA) to the mound to face the D-Backs' Brandon Webb (3-8, 3.88 ERA).
Although both pitchers have solid ERAs, neither one has been effective at keeping scores under the posted totals. Webb's over-under record is surprisingly high at 11-5, which ranks third highest among starters with 15 starts or more. Lawrence has an over-under record of 7-7.
Oddsmakers have set the total at nine, but it comes at a premium -120. The under is an even +100, and the Padres have been given the nod as favorites at around -118.
