Saturday’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers showed that while MLB umpires in general have come under heavy criticism during the 2022 season, which has led to increased calls for an automated strike zone, there’s still only one Ángel Hernández.
Hernández was the home plate umpire on Saturday. So fans of both teams (and anyone else watching the game, for that matter) had to know that they’d have some frustrating moments that would cause them to want to rip their hair out. Sure enough, Hernández provided those moments — and it did not take long.
Hernández struggled to grasp the strike zone multiple times in the first inning alone.
Angel Hernandez says pitch 5 is a strike.
It's only the first inning, folks pic.twitter.com/gpIUiD7LQs
— Reviewing the Brew (@ReviewngTheBrew) August 6, 2022
Angel Hernandez is on one tonight, my goodness.
Fire him already @MLBUA pic.twitter.com/a3fIMFmgjx
— Reviewing the Brew (@ReviewngTheBrew) August 6, 2022
Baseball fans have been irritated by MLB umpires throughout the season. Still, none generate the kind of frustration that Hernández does, something that was plainly evident on Saturday.
The Angel Hernandez show is already wild.
— Vance Meek (@vancemeek) August 6, 2022
@Todd_Rosiak Only the 1st and this guy is already killing me #AngelHernandez
— Craig Koplien (@CraigKoplien) August 6, 2022
Angel Hernandez is trending and its only the 2nd inning. Someone's gonna end up getting ejected. Book it.
— Randy‼️ (@RandyHeyyyy) August 6, 2022
https://twitter.com/BlakeTapper/status/1556064028161630210
My theory is that Angel Hernandez only has a job because MLBUA wants you to see what a BAD umpire actually looks like. So that you don’t complain about the iffy ones.
— white wine supernova (@mjms323) August 6, 2022
There have been worse mistakes. Only days before this mistake Hernández was on a crew that inexplicably forgot the count and gave Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez four strikes. Though, to be fair, even the opposing team let that mistake get made without argument.
Still, other umpires have made terrible calls this year, nobody does it with the regularity that Hernández does. Fans have clearly taken notice and are not in any hurry to take him off of the hook.
