Stealing the low strike, a breakdown

In a spring training game, New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is showcasing a new technique he's been working on with the team's new catching coach, Tanner Swanson. As the pitch is delivered, Sanchez is not giving the pitcher a target, instead dropping down to one knee with his glove low in the strike zone. This is a stark contrast to Sanchez's setup last season, where he would simply crouch behind the plate, with his glove positioned higher. The reason for this change is that the Yankees have brought in Swanson, previously the catching coach for the Minnesota Twins, who is implementing a new strategy to help Sanchez and the pitching staff steal strikes from the umpire. The key is minimizing the glove movement when catching borderline pitches in the lower part of the zone. By keeping his glove low and simply lifting it up to frame the pitch, rather than dropping down to catch it and then bringing the glove back up, Sanchez can create the illusion that pitches on the bottom of the zone are strikes. the baseball analyst providing commentary, points to examples of this technique being used successfully by Twins catcher Mitch Garver last season. Garver was able to consistently get calls on low pitches by simply lifting his glove up, rather than going down to catch them first. This frustrates hitters, who feel the umpire is being tricked, but as long as human umpires are behind the plate, argues, this is a valid strategy that catchers should employ. The video then shows a few instances of Sanchez using this technique, including one where he appears to "steal" a strike on a pitch that was actually down the middle. notes that getting the pitcher to buy into this approach is important, as they no longer have a clear target to aim for. But if executed properly, it can be an effective way to maximize the number of strikes a team's pitchers receive. The final example highlighted is of George Springer of the Houston Astros, where says the umpire clearly brings up a pitch that should have been called a ball. This underscores the value of this framing technique, as long as human umpires remain part of the game. Overall, is fascinated by this new catching strategy and believes it could have a significant impact on the game if more teams and catchers adopt it, especially with the consistent struggles of pitch framing across Major League Baseball.