Angel Hernandez proves robot umpires may not be so bad after all

Major League Baseball umpire Angel Hernandez has a reputation, and it’s not a good one. But after the call he missed Tuesday night, it’ll only get worse.

Angel Hernandez makes a good case for robot umpires.

They say the best umpires and officials are those whose names you don’t know. That means they are doing their job well and not standing out. Well, Angel Hernandez is a name everyone around baseball knows. From players to managers to even casual fans, Hernandez is a household name — and not for a good reason.

He’s one of the worst umpires in baseball. The Yankees got another example of that on Wednesday night.

As Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk faced Masahiro Tanaka to lead off the fifth inning, the Yankees hurler threw a center-cut fastball to pin Grichuk in an 0-2 hole. Except he didn’t, because Hernandez called it a ball.

Here’s a virtual look at where the pitch was located.

Instead of having Grichuk in an 0-2 hole, Tanaka faced a 1-1 count. Later in the at-bat, Grichuk hit a solo home run to center that opened the floodgates for a four-run frame for the Blue Jays. The Yankees lost 4-3.

In Hernandez’s defense, catcher Gary Sanchez was set up inside, and the pitch certainly missed what appeared to be the intended spot. It is fairly common for umpires to miss strike calls that badly missed the catcher’s target.

But considering Hernandez’s history, we shouldn’t expect fans to cut him any slack. Especially when the pitch was right down the middle.

The call was so bad, Hernandez had the folks on Twitter calling for action.

https://twitter.com/WesSZN_/status/1136071348063784960

And although the pitch to Grichuk is the one receiving all the attention, Hernandez egregiously missed another strike call Tuesday night, too.

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Slowly but surely, Hernandez is staking his claim for the title of worst umpire of all time.