It’s not exactly a secret that Major League Baseball’s umpires have struggled with calling balls and strikes this season. There’s always the element of human error, as umpires are not going to get every call right. Yes, we’re all not exactly immune from committing errors ourselves, but the missteps by umpires around the league are magnified in the sense that they’re now being audited on social media.
Everyone’s a critic these days. At the same time, when 10 strike-out calls are being blown around the league in a single day, those in the world of Major League Baseball are going to have something to say. Fans are eager to implement robot umpires, as they’re upset with the impact that balls and strikes, which are not reviewable, have on the game. Though they’ll have to wait, as earlier this month, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred alluded to it being unlikely that robot umps will arrive at games in the 2024 season.
Perhaps there is no better example than what happened around the league on Thursday. According to the Twitter account Umpire Auditor, umpires blew 10 strikeout calls Thursday. Umpire Junior Valentine had four blown calls in the Giants-Padres game, while Doug Eddings had three in the Nationals-Diamondbacks game.
Umpires blew 10 strike outs today.
Umpire Junior Valentine had 4 in the #Giants #Padres game and Doug Eddings had 3 in the #Nationals #Diamondbacks game. pic.twitter.com/LLTKcKwUqv
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) June 23, 2023
According to Umpire Scorecards, Valentine called 87% of called strikes correctly, compared to the league average of 88%.
Umpire: Junior Valentine
Final: Padres 10, Giants 0#BringTheGold // #SFGiants#SDvsSF // #SFvsSDMore stats for this game 👇https://t.co/ozYEQHLcDp pic.twitter.com/o0f9Qlbreu
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) June 23, 2023
Eddings had a much worse day at the office, as he called 84% of called strikes correctly.
Umpire: Doug Eddings
Final: D-backs 5, Nationals 3#Dbacks // #NATITUDE#AZvsWSH // #WSHvsAZMore stats for this game 👇https://t.co/iaIavEqBuZ pic.twitter.com/bdgeSkkyZV
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) June 23, 2023
Needless to say, Washington Nationals manager Davey Martines was not pleased with Eddings.
This starts with incredible hot mics and continues with Davey Martinez laying flat on the dirt pic.twitter.com/ND9z7WJMUW
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 22, 2023
Neither were MLB fans.
1.64 runs advantage for Arizona and all impactful misses against the Nats. MLB needs to carefully look into this. https://t.co/3LiDHDMHuW pic.twitter.com/wt3elv07d7
— Talk Nats (@TalkNats) June 23, 2023
what do you call it when an ump isn't actually bad (managed to not miscall any strikes as balls) but just expands the zone to the size of the Pacific almost exclusively for one team? https://t.co/VUzi312PXZ
— Andrew Brennan (@unofficialAB) June 23, 2023
Nine times Dougie Fresh significantly expanded the strike zone and had rabbit ears on top of it, which over shadows his 100% in the other category. https://t.co/jgykXrIx2B
— PeteOnSports (@PeteMedhurst) June 23, 2023
When the ump decides you ain’t winning, you just ain’t winning https://t.co/PnXxzy8xAa
— Evan Johnson (@thevoiceofevan) June 23, 2023
They weren’t pleased with Valentine either.
Todays patently absurd home plate umpiring disaster, early game addition: Junior Valentine in San Francisco v. the Padres. Needs a new line of work…pathetic display.
It’s an epidemic, @BadSportsRefs
— Al & Jo’s Pa (@zackiejoe) June 22, 2023
Junior Valentine needs an appointment with the optometrist pic.twitter.com/hPfMUvpP8f
— Giannis Auntiegotapoodle (@TooMuchMortons_) June 22, 2023
I guess HP ump Junior Valentine thinks the strike zone starts at the ankle. pic.twitter.com/bWukpyAG5J
— John Metzler (@bluejaysbeat) June 22, 2023
This is a daily occurrence in the league at this point. It remains to be seen if Manfred and Major League Baseball will take any action.
[Umpire Auditor on Twitter; photo from Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports]
