When fans see the names of certain umpires on game assignments, they’ve come to expect a share of controversy. Phil Cuzzi is absolutely one of those umpires.
Cuzzi, of course, was the umpire at the center of Max Scherzer’s ejection for using sticky substances despite Scherzer’s adamant claim that he was only using sweat and rosin. Cuzzi also baited Gabe Kapler into an ejection last season. It’s nothing new for him.
But at the very least, fans and players want umpires to call games consistently and accurately. Cuzzi fell short there on Sunday with Astros reliever Matt Gage on the mound. As Gage was facing the Mariners’ J.P. Crawford, Cuzzi stopped play to call a balk on Gage.
Phil Cuzzi, Emphatic Balk Demonstration pic.twitter.com/g4ylawIFqC
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 7, 2023
It turned out, though, that Gage’s delivery from the stretch was a mirror image with the previous pitch (not called a balk).
These are back-to-back pitches (same batter/runners).
<———not called a balk called a balk———> pic.twitter.com/K0bxS3hRIX— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 8, 2023
Cuzzi seemed to think that Gage started his movement towards the plate, but we can see that he didn’t. His regular act of coming set includes a pair of steps back with that front leg. He wasn’t starting his progression towards the plate or attempting to deceive the runner. Basically, it was the wrong call from Cuzzi, and he made the game about himself with the demonstration.
Gage would eventually strike out Crawford to end the inning, but fans weren’t thrilled with Cuzzi’s antics at all.