According to The Athletic, changes in how Major League Baseball evaluates umpires have resulted in fewer called strikes on the edge of the zone through the first month of the 2025 season. The change was made as part of the league’s new labor agreement with the umpires’ union, signed in December. According to The Athletic, the umpire evaluation process has undergone the following changes: For the past two decades, umpires were working with a “buffer zone” that gave them 2 inches of leeway — on ...