Everybody’s favorite umpire had himself a game for the ages on Sunday Night Baseball.
The umpire in question—Ángel Hernández—has long been derided by fans and players alike for questionable calls in key moments that frequently place him squarely in the spotlight. Stationed behind home plate for a nationally-televised game between the Brewers and Phillies on Sunday, Hernández was in rare form.
The Twitter account @UmpScorecards uses pitch-by-pitch data from MLB to evaluate how accurately and consistently umpires call balls and strikes. By any measure, Hernández fell well short of the standard for a major league umpire, with a remarkable 11 out of 48 called strikes actually landing outside the strike zone—some by a comically large margin.
Unsurprisingly, players from both teams were visibly agitated at Hernández’s performance, leading to some animated exchanges all night.
Schwarber’s called third strike in the ninth inning was particularly impactful, though all of the missed calls held significance in what ended up being a 1–0 win for Milwaukee. Brewers pitchers notched 16 strikeouts on the night, including a career-high 13 by starter Eric Lauer. Two different Phillies—Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos—struck out three times apiece.
Players and coaches for the Brewers and Phillies, unsurprisingly, weren’t the only ones who took Sunday night as an opportunity to lob criticism at Hernández’s performance. Check out the best reactions from social media below.
