By Jason Kendall FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW BRADENTON, Fla. - A big topic of discussion in baseball has been the high strike and how it will be called this season. Umpires have been visiting camps this spring to go over the strike zone. We had Jim Reynolds in our camp Wednesday, and we had some good discussions with him. Some people think the high strike will be bad for pitchers, but I think expanding the strike zone will help them out. Most of the time if you throw a high strike, it's going to get whacked. But it also opens up the zone more. You don't have to nit-pick anymore. You don't have to nibble in the corner or hit the black. You can go right at the hitter. The high strike will also be an advantage to a pitcher who throws 95. You can't hit a ball up there if it's coming in at 95 mph. The best you can do is foul it off. On our team, I think the rule will benefit Kris Benson and Jose Silva in that way. The big question is whether umpires will enforce the high strike once the season starts. I don't know if a veteran umpire who has been around for 15 years is going to change his zone, especially if a Greg Maddux or a Roger Clemens is on the mound. We'll have to wait and see. As a catcher, I have a different take on it. Umpires want catchers to set up in their crouch early and stay there. Jim Reynolds said that when a catcher sets up or moves late, it blocks the umpires view of the plate. He said he can't move along with me and still have a good angle to make his call. But he also said that if a catcher tips off the umpire beforehand, that he's going to set up late, it won't catch the umpire off guard and he can react better. The problem comes when there's a runner on second base. I like to set up late so I don't tip off the runner about the location of the pitch. If I set up on the inside part of the plate, the runner on second can see that's where I want the pitch thrown. Then he can tip off the batter by either grabbing his crotch, adjusting his helmet or touching his left or right arm - whatever signal his team uses. That's important because as a hitter, if I know the location of the pitch - no matter if it's fastball, curve or slider - it's a lot easier to hit the ball. So, if I tip off where the pitches are going, then I'm one who has to go back to the dugout and hear Lloyd McClendon chew my butt out. That's the point I brought up to Jim Reynolds. I'm instructed to set up as late as possible. I can't adjust to the umpire because if I do that, I'm going to be aired out by Mac. Like I said, we'll see what happens when we start playing games. This also was the week I watched the final episodes of two of my favorite shows - The Mole and Temptation Island. I was supposed to watch the wrestling pay-per-view last Sunday, but didn't get to because I fell asleep after the long day of workouts. When I woke up, it was almost over. If you read my column last week, you know I had a pool going with my friends back home to see who was The Mole. I lost. The girl, Kathryn, turned out to be the mole. My guy, Steven, did win the money on the show, but because he wasn't the mole, I didn't win our pool. Even though I didn't win any money, it was good to know that my guy was smarter on the show than everyone else. I think the concept of The Mole is great. If I didn't have baseball or if the show was done in the off-season, I would sign up for it in a heartbeat. It's the best reality TV show out there. It's better than Survivor or Temptation Island. Speaking of Temptation Island, I was upset with the ending to that show. All of the couples got back together. As a viewer, you want to see something good happen, but it didn't. It was eyewash. If you watched the show, you probably were let down, too.