Some serious shrinkage is hitting Major League Baseball.
Due to new rules surrounding the implementation of MLB’s Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS), players now have to have their height measured more precisely, and some are shorter than they previously claimed.
The height differences can be seen on players’ bio pages on MLB’s website, with fans on social media noticing some players getting smaller.
One of the largest disparities so far comes from Rays infielder Gavin Lux, who was reported at 6 feet 2 inches last season, but stands at just 5 feet 11 inches this year.
Additionally, Guardians catcher Bo Naylor dropped from 6 feet to 5 feet 9 inches. Red Sox backstop Connor Wong is now clocking in at 5 feet 11 inches this season, down two inches.
Although MLB players have been weighed and measured since the league’s inception, this year ushers in a new era of the process being seriously standardized, with some of the rules including:
- No hats
- No shoes
- Knees exposed
- Back against the wall
- Heels together
- No slouching
Furthermore, teams must record the measurements between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. local time to prevent shrinking throughout a day, MLB.com reported.
“People shrink over the course of a day,” Brewers assistant GM Will Hudgins said, according to MLB.com. “I’m not entirely sure how much, but I’ve been told that enough times to believe that it is scientifically true.”
The precision is emphasized so each player’s personal strike zone is perfectly tailored for them, as ABS challenges can overturn calls on a fraction of an inch.
“It was very detailed,” Hudgins said. “You can tell they have done this in the Minor Leagues and have thought about every part of this.”
League officials measured each player twice with an instrument similar to those in doctor offices, and if there was an inconsistency by more than a few millimeters, they took a third measurement and averaged out the three, MLB.com reported.
Each ballpark will have a measuring device for players called up during the season, with a member of the home team’s medical staff being the official measurer.
Despite all of the pinpoint measurements, however, players only got their results given to them in fractions of centimeters.
“You saw a lot of guys trying to do a centimeters-to-feet conversion in their heads,” Hudgins said.