Angel Hernandez has always had the worst reputation among MLB umpires, but he took it to a whole new level Friday night.
Hernandez, who batted in his first MLB game in 1991, was in the starting lineup Friday night for the 2023 ALCS rematch between the American League West rivals the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers.
And it wasn’t pretty.
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Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez stands in the bottom of the first inning of the New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City, on April 7, 2024. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
The viral video shows rookie Wyatt Langford striking out three consecutive sliders that were far outside the strike zone.
According to umpire auditors at X (formerly Twitter), the called three strikes missed the plate by 6.78 inches.
According to Codify, of the past 53,000 third strikes, one was the furthest from the plate, leaving the game announcer speechless.
Rangers announcer Dave Raymond said, “Well, you better be good tonight. The Angels have dinner reservations.”
However, that was just one at-bat. Hernandez saw 53 more outs and hundreds of pitches.
He called seven pitches strikes. At least 3 inches away from the plate.
According to the umpire scorecard, Hernandez called the strikes correctly 91% of the time, below the league average of 94%. He performed well in “cold ball accuracy,” with 6 of his 150 called balls being true strikes (96%, MLB average 97%).
Angel Hernandez serves as the home plate umpire at the New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros game held at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City on August 6, 2023. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
But apparently it was a pitch outside the zone, and he didn’t understand it. Of the 55 shots that were ruled strikes, 12 were actually balls, some of them egregious. This gives him a 78% hit rate, much lower than his 88% on average.
As clips of the umpire’s calls went viral, baseball fans made their opinions known.
“MLB seriously needs to fire this player. Angel Hernandez just called a strike three on a pitch that was in Narnia.” Streamer Fuzzy wrote.
“I love that in the 1990s and 2000s, Angel Hernandez had a reputation for being a terrible referee. Then people developed sophisticated ways to evaluate referee performance, and it turned out that he stunk. It turns out, there aren’t many legends who can adapt across time like that.” Roger Sherman also added.
New York Post baseball writer Jon Heyman I wondered, “With just one amplifier?” [can] Hurry up the introduction of the Robo Amplifier system. ”
“Angel Hernandez’s raison d’être is to dissolve everyone. I’m convinced of that. There’s no other way to explain it.” another user wrote.
Some may argue that batters should adapt to the umpire’s strike zone, but no one knows what Hernandez’s strike zone is.Of course, Hernandez may have to adapt to that. of Strike Zone.
MLB referee Angel Hernandez gestures during the Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals game at Target Field in Minneapolis, June 15, 2019. (Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
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Hernandez has previously accused the league of “manipulating the performance of Hernandez and other minority umpires,” which has led to more minority umpires serving as crew chiefs. He criticized it for being a hindrance.
In March 2021, Hernandez lost a lawsuit against Major League Baseball alleging racial discrimination. In a lawsuit filed in 2017, Hernandez claimed he was discriminated against because he had not been assigned to a World Series since 2005 and had not been named a crew chief.
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