Tag: Angel Hernandez

The Braves broadcast took a hilarious jab at Angel Hernandez after a missed call behind the plate

What strike zone?

Longtime MLB umpire Angel Hernandez missed much of this season after dealing with a medical matter. But since his return in late July, he’s somehow gotten worse behind the plate.

Sunday’s game was no exception.

Hernandez was working home plate for the final game of the Braves’ series with the Giants, and it quickly became apparent to both pitching staffs that Hernandez was calling any pitch somewhat near the outside corner as a strike. It led to some ridiculous missed calls on the afternoon, but you have to appreciate how Braves play-by-play announcer Brandon Gaudin called the expanded strike zone in the moment.

“As Fried fires a strike near the outside corner,” he said.

That was how Hernandez’s day pretty much went as he was consistently calling that outside pitch a strike.

And honestly, it seemed much worse than the scorecard saw it.

MLB fans also had thoughts on Hernandez’s performance behind the plate.

Angel Hernandez got roasted by announcers and everyone else for missing a blatant strike call

Angel Hernandez is back at it again.

Ah, summer is in full swing now that Angel Hernandez is back to umpiring in the Majors.

Already, we’ve seen him botch some calls, one of which led to a home run after he missed one. Although his first set of calls behind the plate weren’t that bad, the tradition of roasting him is back to its usual level.

On Sunday, he missed a call on a pitch from Hector Neris against the New York Yankees that should have for sure been a strike. Everyone, from Neris to fans, thought that was the case.

And that opened the floodgates for criticism everywhere, including on the Astros’ broadcast:

Woof.

Angel Hernandez’s first game back umpiring behind the plate was surprisingly not bad

He did pretty well!

Yes, Angel Hernandez is back.

The Major League Baseball umpire everyone loves to rip on is now back, and already he botched a stolen base out.

On Wednesday, he was behind the plate for the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals tilt, and he missed a call on a 1-1 pitch that then led to a home run the very next pitch.

Thanks to Umpire Scorecards, we have a verdict on his return and you know what? He did pretty well! Give the guy some credit — he returned from a long layoff and now he’s calling games pretty well. We’ll see if it keeps up!

Angel Hernandez’s missed call led to a home run in his first game back behind the plate

He’s back like he never left.

Longtime MLB umpire Angel Hernandez has been absent for nearly the entire season thus far after dealing with a medical matter. He made his return to big-league action this past weekend, and on Wednesday, he was back behind the plate for the first time in 2023.

It didn’t take long for a missed call to make an impact.

Now, until MLB institutes an automated strike zone (robot umps), you’re almost never going to see an umpire go an entire game without missing a call. It’s only happened once since Ump Scorecards started tracking performance. But Hernandez has a knack for impacting games with his missed calls.

With MacKenzie Gore on the mound for the Nationals, he should have gotten ahead in the count when his 1-1 pitch in the strike zone was called a ball by Hernandez. There’s a huge difference between a 2-1 count and a 1-2 count from a pitcher’s perspective, and Gore paid that price on the very next pitch. He left a 2-1 fastball up high in the zone, which Tyrone Taylor drove for a 396-foot home run.

Again, Hernandez was never going to be perfect in the game, but a missed call in that spot had to be frustrating for Gore and the Nationals.

Fans certainly didn’t have any problem piling on Hernandez for the missed call.

Ángel Hernández botched an easy stolen base out and MLB fans ripped his terrible call

The call was eventually overturned, but it was still very bad!

Ángel Hernández’s first week back in Major League Baseball play could be going better.

Earlier this season, MLB fans noticed that Hernández — likely the most unpopular umpire in baseball for his frequent horrible calls — hadn’t been working games. Major League Umpires director Randy Marsh told For The Win that Hernández’s absence was due to a “medical matter” and it was only recently that the umpire had been spotted working minor league games.

On Monday, Hernández was back on the field at the MLB level, this time holding court as the second base umpire for the evening’s Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers contest. During the fifth inning, Nationals outfielder Alex Call made an attempt to steal second but was tagged by Brewers shortstop Willy Adames.

Inexplicably, Hernández made the call that Call was safe, but replay showed that Adames clearly tagged his man before he got anywhere close to the base.

Thankfully, the Brewers challenged the play and it was overturned, but what a mess. Definitely not the way Hernández wanted to kick off his return to MLB play, that’s for sure.

MLB fans, however, ripped Hernández for his terrible call on what should have been an easy out made right then and there.

Is umpire Angel Hernandez calling minor league games a sign he’ll be back in MLB soon?

Could we see the umpire back up in the Majors soon?

It’s the absence noticed by so many baseball fans in 2023: Angel Hernandez, the umpire everyone from fans to announcers loves to rip because of his calls, has only worked one game this season.

MORE: This call at first base by Angel Hernandez was horrible

Two months ago, our Andrew Joseph wrote about this and was told it was due to a “medical matter” by Major League Umpires director Randy Marsh.

But as some have noticed that Hernandez has been calling some minor league games as of late. Does that mean he’ll be called up to the majors at some point soon? No word on that as of yet!

Angel Hernandez hasn’t worked a game since April 3 and MLB fans are starting to notice

He’s only worked one game this season.

When it comes to MLB’s least popular umpires, Angel Hernandez is often the first name fans and players mention. He’s among the worst-performing umpires behind that plate and controversial when working around the bases.

Every team knows they’re in for a long night when Hernandez’s name pops up on crew assignments. But this season has been different. Hernandez has quietly disappeared from MLB ballparks for the past six weeks. In fact, he hasn’t worked a game since April 3 — his only game this season — when he was stationed at first base for the Giants’ game against the White Sox.

It’s getting to the point where people are starting to notice his absence.

The Major League Baseball Umpires Association hadn’t commented about any sort of leave, suspension or retirement for Hernandez. He worked the World Baseball Classic. And despite filing a lawsuit against MLB for racial discrimination in 2017, Hernandez had continued to regularly work MLB games up until this past April. MLB blamed Hernandez’s lack of World Series assignments and crew promotions on his poor performance as an umpire.

But if Hernandez’s absence is performance based, the timing and lack of announcement would be curious. He worked once during the first week of the season and just wasn’t heard from again.

Update: Director of Major League Umpires Randy Marsh told For The Win that he believed Hernandez’s absence was due to a “medical matter.”

Fans also had thoughts on the lack of Hernandez so far this season. Many also wished him well.

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Mets’ broadcast not so subtly called Angel Hernandez a clown after his first-inning snafu

The Mets’ broadcast took quite a shot at Angel Hernandez.

It’s fair to say the New York Mets broadcast is not the biggest fan of Angel Hernandez.

On Sunday, Hernandez once again became the biggest story in baseball after absolutely botching a call on the first play of the game between the Mets and Miami Marlins. Brandon Nimmo seemed to have started the game with a lead-off triple to left field, with the ball bouncing off then lying to rest underneath the wall padding.

Hernandez then called the play dead as a ground-rule double, seemingly believing the ball was stuck in the padding and that one of the Marlins outfielders called for an “out of play”. It was, to put it lightly, a terrible call. And the Mets’ broadcast seems to agree, because they not so subtly made this fifth inning camera transition from a clown in the stands to Hernandez himself.

And the chuckle too from the broadcaster! The Mets’ broadcast knew exactly what they were doing here.

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Angel Hernandez managed to mess up first play of the Mets-Marlins game with a nonsensical call

No other ump would EVER make that call.

When it comes to over-thinking as an umpire, Angel Hernandez really can’t help himself. He can take a simple play and send an entire game off the rails by inserting himself into the action.

On Sunday, he only needed one play for that to happen.

In the first inning of the Mets’ game against the Marlins, Brandon Nimmo appeared to get things started with a lead-off triple to the left-center gap. The ball rolled to the wall and came to a stop under the wall’s padding. Now, if the ball is lodged in the padding, the fielders are told to signal an “out of play” to the umpires by holding up their arms. Neither Jerar Encarnacion nor JJ Bleday did that here.

Bleday immediately reached for the ball, picked it up with no problem and threw towards third.

Hernandez — the furthest umpire from the play at home — called the play dead as a ground-rule double. Hernandez might have viewed Encarnacion pointing to third as some sort of “out of play” signal, but that really wasn’t what happened at all.

The Mets should have had a lead-off triple, but they had to settle for a double because Hernandez felt the need to make a call that no other umpire would make in that situation.

No wonder MLB fans were not impressed with the embattled umpire.

Manny Machado was so mad after an Angel Hernandez call overturned a hit by pitch

Angel Hernandez might have gotten this call right, actually!

On the long, long list of bad Angel Hernandez calls that we’ve seen over the years, this one was far from the worst. Heck, it might have even been … the right one?

But it still made Manny Machado mad, and that’s noteworthy.

Here’s the situation from Sunday’s eventual New York Mets win over the San Diego Padres: In the sixth inning,  Drew Smith threw a pitch that came inside on Machado. As he took what might have been a check swing — the ball hit him in the elbow. The home plate umpire sent him to first … but the call from the first-base ump was that he swung. And that meant it was strike three.

That first base ump? You guessed it. Angel Hernandez. But I actually think he might have gotten the call right?

Machado was then seen in the dugout smashing something, pretty heated at the call: