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Starting this year, the strike zone, which was narrow compared to other countries, will be expanded in domestic professional baseball.
To reduce walks and induce hitting, the referees first went into adaptation training.
Byung-min Yoo.
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The referee shouted a ball at a rather high ball,
[Ball!]
The answer of the pitch tracking system with a new strike zone is different.
[Strike]
Like this, the vague ball that was judged as a ball until last year, which passed at the end of the strike zone, is changed to a strike this year.
In particular, the strike zone upper limit, which was almost uniform regardless of the height of the batter, is applied high for tall batters and low for short hitters as a rule.
The KBO League referees first started training for the expanded strike zone adaptation.
[Heo Un/KBO Referee Chairman: Because the referee has a strike zone he has known for many years.
There is no other way than training (I think)]
The KBO expects that the expansion of the strike zone will shorten the game time by reducing the walk, which was an all-time high last year, and increase the spectacle by inducing hitters to hit.
In addition, as we struggled with a wide strike zone in international competitions, we also considered improving the competitiveness of the national team.
The referees plan to visit the club's training ground from next week to help the players adjust.
(Video coverage: Lee Byung-joo, video editing: Nam Il)