Why 2024 Could Be End of an Era for Ángel Hernández and Bad MLB Umpires
It’s only April, but there’s already a leader in the clubhouse for the 2024 Ump Show Award. And between you and me, I don’t think anyone’s going to beat this one.
There is no better way to describe Hunter Wendelstedt’s ejection of Aaron Boone on Monday than as buffoonery of the highest order.
It had everything to do with Wendelstedt and a heckler sitting above the New York Yankees dugout and, as Boone pleaded in highly NSFW language, absolutely nothing to do with him:
I don’t know what’s more embarrassing for Wendelstedt. His initial nonsensical, Dril-tweet-esque “I don’t care who said it! You’re gone!” or his eventual doubling down on the righteousness of tossing the Yankees manager after the game. It may be a tie, honestly.
Whatever the case, this is what the Ump Show is all about. At nobody’s urging, an umpire suddenly goes from background character to the lead at center stage, all by going off-script in ways that are varying degrees of baffling, infuriating and totally outrageous.
You hate to see it. Unless, of course, you love to see it.
But for how much longer will the Ump Show be a fact of life in Major League Baseball? Could 2024 be the year when the performances start to become endangered? Are we all in attendance for the swan song?
Umpires Are Having a Bad Year
When I’ve waded into umpiring controversies in the past, it’s typically involved pointing out they’re actually very good at their jobs and people need to cut them some slack.
But so far, 2024 is testing even my resolve to defend these guys.
There are only so many ways to quantify the quality of the work umpires do, but the means we have include success rate in manager challenges and how many balls and strikes they’re calling correctly.
So, here are two key figures: 53.3 and 7.5.
The first is the rate at which managers are winning challenges this year, which is significant because A) that means umpires are losing most challenges and B) it’s the highest success rate managers have had since the replay system went into effect in 2014.
