A 3-2 count is not "even" but neither is the batter "ahead". It's simply a full count.

_________________
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With Elon, Kash, and Don

Can the ump really see the catchers glove? Seems like most of them are just peeking over a shoulder.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

The edge is given to batters because they can continue the plate appearance by fouling off a pitch, or "win" it by not swinging at a bad pitch. Whereas a pitcher has no such options, and is more limited to the strike zone than on a wide open count. That is the explanation of why a batter is still "ahead" in a "full count".

Votto will fight you.

If his fighting style is anything like his plate approach, he'll just watch you throw a bunch of punches and hope you tire yourself out.

He has the 25th-best ISO (.227) in the league among qualified hitters from 2009 until now. He's not just some punchless weirdo who doesn't swing, he's got elite power.

What a dick.

That's certainly a way to spin it. One also might say the pitcher has the advantage on any 2 strike count, particularly in this era when outside of a few batters there really is no "two strike approach" to hitting. You seem to be saying that batters can just foul off pitches at will like Luke Appling as if they suddenly discover the ability to make contact on full counts that isn't apparent when they are striking out 40,000 times.

It also depends on the situation. There's obviously a difference when men are on base. But the fact is there are less balls put into play than ever.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

I do believe there is more credit attributed to the catcher in the framing discussion than what is actually occurring, which leads me to believe it is another "scientific" metric that uses subjective factors to arrive at its product.

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And men have lost their reason.

No, I'm not. Don't twist this into some bullshit strawman of yours. I'm saying hitters have the advantage because they can continue the PA by virtue of fouling off a pitch, increasing their chances to get a hit (research shows this), while the pitcher has absolutely nothing he can do to extend the PA.

What the fuck are you talking about? A foul ball extends the plate appearance for both the pitcher and the batter. True, the more pitches a batter sees in an at-bat, the more likely he is to get a hit, but full counts are ultimately resulting in strikeouts more than at any other time in baseball history. That's a fact.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

Why would the pitcher want to extend the plate appearance and not just get the out?

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Those statements aren't contradictory. Going up to hit the shit out of the first good pitch is a much more reasonable plan/goal for an at-bat than thinking you're going to see 12 or 13 pitches without striking out first. The 40,000 strikeouts that will occur this year support that.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

I believe he's saying the batter is "winning" the battle on a particular 3-2 pitch when he fouls it off. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

I guess you're right. Maybe it's like holding a note in jazz where you start loud and then go soft and crescendo, but with statistical likelihood.

Digression: does anyone else who's ever taken a single music class in their lives see the phrase "reach a crescendo" and start tearing hair out? The crescendo isn't what you arrive at, it's the arrival itself.

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I dunno, I don't get the context of "I'm saying hitters have the advantage because they can continue the PA by virtue of fouling off a pitch, increasing their chances to get a hit (research shows this), while the pitcher has absolutely nothing he can do to extend the PA."

Yeah, the pitcher doesn't want to extend the at-bat. He wants to end it right there. He usually does too and often with a strikeout.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

The pitcher can't make up for a bad pitch or bad location, so he is forced more into the zone than on a wide open count or even a count where he is ahead. The hitter, however, can try to force a different pitch or different location, or even make up for guessing wrong on location/pitch type, by fouling off a pitch.

That's true, but the hitter is also forced into a situation where he can't take anything that's anywhere close without risk of being rung up. There was a time when batters would choke up and protect the zone, but the strikeout has lost the stigma it once had.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

No, the only thing I remember about my music theory class was the disdain the teacher had for us non-majors taking the class.