The Big Lead

MLB updates player heights for 2025; three players are the biggest losers

By J.P. Hoornstra

Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux (9) celebrates after hitting a double during the second inning in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux (9) celebrates after hitting a double during the second inning in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Gavin Lux didn't just lose a chance to collect his World Series ring on Opening Day when he was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Cincinnati Reds in December. He lost three inches off his height.

Lux, Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong, and Texas Rangers catcher Tucker Barnhart were the biggest losers when Major League Baseball updated its player height listings for 2025.

MLB introduced its first automated ball-strike (ABS) system at the major league level in spring training. The so-called "robo ump" was established as reliable at the minor league levels, where players could challenge a limited number of ball or strike calls over the course of a game.

Calibrating the "Hawk-Eye" computer system for accuracy meant MLB had to accurately account for every player's height, a critical component in determining a player's "true" strike zone. That meant updating the heights of veteran major leaguers who had never played a game in which an ABS system was in use.

The result was widespread, if not dramatic. According to the FanGraphs database (whose data comes from MLB, as explained by Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley on the Effectively Wild podcast), most height changes were only by an inch or two in either direction.

Lux (who shrank from 6-foot-2 to 5-11), Wong (6-1 to 5-10) and Barnhart (5-11 to 5-8) were the three exceptions. No player gained as many three inches, for the record.

The complete FanGraphs data set, which includes some international players who have never appeared in a professional game, is here.

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