Angel Hernandez latest ump show screw-up is something no one saw coming
By Mark Powell
It's mid-April, but so far this year it's been the season of Angel Hernandez in MLB. Hernandez is the most well-known umpire in the big leagues for all the wrong reasons. Yet, Rob Manfred can do little to get rid of Hernandez thanks to the powerful union behind him. Firing umpires is frowned upon except in very rare situations.
While Hernandez misses calls and at times makes the game more about him than the teams on the field, he does get most decisions right, believe it or not.
Still, Angel went viral earlier this week for three brutal calls that went against Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford, who already has one of the best batter's eyes in baseball. Hernandez called three pitches outside of the zone strikes in the same at-bat.
** NEW UMPIRE AUDITOR RECORD **
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) April 13, 2024
Umpire Angel Hernandez rang up Wyatt Langford on three consecutive pitches out of the zone.
The strikeout pitch missed outside by 6.78 inches.
This was the largest miss on a called strikeout in Umpire Auditor history. pic.twitter.com/BWmizkDsmD
Still, Hernandez's bad week was far from over. On Tuesday night, he (again) shadowed the game's end result by calling a sketchy balk and seemingly putting a curse on Abner Uribe. I kid you not.
Ángel Hernández calling time to put some strange hex on Abner Uribe. pic.twitter.com/Rbn2F1d6XR
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 17, 2024
Angel Hernandez can’t even get out of the first inning without issue pic.twitter.com/ZElw8r518Z
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) April 17, 2024
Hernandez's overall accuracy on Tuesday was just 90 percent, which is pretty miserable in this day and age. Still, MLB doesn't have an out just yet.
Why MLB can't get rid of Angel Hernandez just yet
As FanSided's Curt Bishop noted in a recent piece, firing Hernandez wouldn't be easy:
"The umpire's union is typically in charge of punishment for their fellow umpires. Firing an umpire based on nothing but poor performance is nearly impossible...Even if Hernandez were to be fired from his job, there is a very good chance that he could file a third lawsuit against the league. Perhaps MLB doesn't want to even entertain the possibility of another lawsuit from Hernandez."
ESPN's Jeff Passan gave his take on Hernandez via the Rich Eisen show. Passan mentioned that MLB could implement the Automated Balls and Strikes system in 2025 or 2026. This would give them direct results as to umpires' effectiveness.
ABS would initially be implemented as a challenge system, per Passan. However, even that provides MLB with an out. If Hernandez is overturned enough via challenges, it will only back up claims that he is incompetent at his job.
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