
MLB umpire Angel Hernandez delivers worst called game of 2023
PITTSBURGH (BVM) – While the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals find themselves well outside the playoff race, Thursday’s matchup between the two teams served as an example of just where some around the game are during the final stretch of the season.
With umpire metrics filtering out following the Sept. 14 matchup, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez found himself in some pretty poor company.
According to both data provided from Umpire Scorecards and Umpire Auditor on X, formerly Twitter, Hernandez’s accuracy as the home plate umpire fell below 84%. The only difference between the two data sets came with one of the accounts citing 16 missed balls and strike calls compared to 15.
Umpire: Angel Hernandez
Final: Nationals 0, Pirates 2#NATITUDE // #LetsGoBucs#WSHvsPIT // #PITvsWSHMore stats for this game 👇https://t.co/5YwCmD0PqJ pic.twitter.com/LdnghBWtcx
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) September 15, 2023
Umpire Angel Hernandez called the worst game of the season yesterday and the worst since April 2022.
He only had to make 92 calls, but he missed 16 of them for a correct call rate of 82.6%.#Pirates #Nationals pic.twitter.com/TeTWosSGSD
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) September 15, 2023
According to the data provided by Ump Scorecards that tracks the individual correctness of home plate umpires, Hernandez registered the worst accuracy percentage of any MLB umpire since 2019. In just eight games behind the dish this season, Hernandez’s ranks at the bottom of all umpires in the league when it comes to the statistic, currently slotting in with a 91.1% average accuracy according to the website’s data.
The long-time ump found most of his issues on strikes, clocking in with a 65% correctness on called strikes. The number noticeably went against Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Ji-hwan Bae who was rung up on two registered balls twice during the game.
Hernandez has been a target for MLB spectators over the years, with plenty of viral clips surrounding the umpire coming out during his time in the league. Hernandez famously tossed seventh-inning stretch conductor Steve “Mongo” McMichael out of attendance at Wrigley Field after the former football star took to the mic to criticize Hernandez’s calls behind the plate.
This makes me laugh so much and I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before:
Steve McMichael of the ‘85 Bears called out Ángel Hernández from the booth for a bad call he made before singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Wrigley in 2001. Lol. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/GB7gTurtfV
— Matt Musico (@mmusico8) May 17, 2021
After starting his career as an umpire back in 1991, the 2023 season marked Hernandez’s 32nd year in the league. With eight games this campaign coming behind the plate, Hernandez may find himself at the bottom of a number of statistical categories with just a few weeks left of MLB action.