There was visible tension between New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom and home plate umpire Ángel Hernández early in Saturday’s game between deGrom’s Mets and the Oakland Athletics. Only, in the end, this tension had a twist that we don’t see very often — particularly with Hernández.
deGrom surrendered four runs to the A’s in the first inning and was not happy with Hernández’s strike zone, leading to a tense conversation during the inning. Hernández does not carry a particularly good reputation as an umpire, especially behind the plate. So, the natural tendency would be to give the benefit of the doubt to deGrom in this situation. Despite that, though, when the game was over, deGrom acknowledged that upon further review, Hernández’s calls were correct.
“I told him I thought those were strikes. Then I went and looked and I told him when I went out in the second that he had them right. That’s on me. I would have liked to have them but I looked and they were balls.”
Jacob deGrom says he spoke with Angel Hernandez after they exchanged words in the 1st inning to tell him he got the calls right:
"That's on me. I would've liked to have had them, but I looked and they were balls." pic.twitter.com/Jy0Dsuyx80
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2022
A player admitting he was wrong in an argument with Hernández is rare, largely because Hernández is so seldom right in his disputes. So, deGrom’s acknowledgment got the attention of several baseball fans.
Good for deGrom but sadly if it was flipped I doubt Hernandez would admit it like this https://t.co/AjqloCeTZn
— James (@Jamesh17) September 24, 2022
Good on him. https://t.co/kQoJATmHX8
— Rebecca (@BaseballReba) September 24, 2022
A real ace owns up to it and moves on and that’s what Jake just did
Onto tomorrow https://t.co/O8VitC1vMQ
— nick (@nickfilaa) September 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/jjah22861/status/1573816586531659778
Saturday’s game did not go well for deGrom or the Mets.
New York scored three runs in the top of the first inning but gave that lead up immediately in the bottom half, with deGrom allowing four runs. The Mets tied the game in the top of the second but Oakland regained the lead with a run in the third and never looked back, winning 10-4. deGrom lasted only four innings, allowing five runs while surrendering six hits, issuing four walks, and striking out five.
[Photo Credit: SNY on Twitter]
