Sep 3, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone looks towards home plate during a pitching change in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

MLB Defends Umpire After Yankees Drama

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Joseph Randazzo | Last updated Sep 5, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Whenever Aaron Boone gets ejected, he speaks with the league and the Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations, Michael Hill. During Boone's tenure with the New York Yankees, he was ejected 45 times, indicating that he had 45 such meetings. During the latest meeting with Hill, they discussed the incidents involving the skipper and reliever Devin Williams. Both were ejected by umpire Brian Walsh.

According to Gary Phillips of Newsday, Hill made several points to Boone. The first was that he does not favor ABS in its present form. The second point is that the umpires do not hold the reputation the Yankees have with umpires against them. The last was that Hill has a great deal of faith in the league's umpires today. He mentioned that the current crews are as good as they've "ever been."

Following last night's commotion, Aaron Boone said he spoke to the league & senior VP of on-field operations Michael Hill, a normal occurrence when he gets ejected.

He also reiterated 1) that he's against ABS in its present form, 2) doesn't think umpires hold his reputation…
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) September 4, 2025

After the Yankees' loss to the Houston Astros, catcher Austin Wells was one of the more vocal players on the Yankees. He supported his teammates despite what he felt was inadequate officiating.

"I felt like there were definitely some calls that we would have loved to go our way," Wells expressed. "I think our guys made a lot of really good pitches tonight and didn't get rewarded for it. That's frustrating and feels like it's been two nights in a row for us. The only thing we're going to do is stick to the plan and keep going, and I think more times than not, we'll come up on the other side."

According to Umpire Scorecard, Walsh's blown calls favored the Astros by +1.4 runs. They mentioned the three most impactful pitches regarding the most significant changes in run expectancy. The first was in the first inning. With one out and a runner on first, a ball was incorrectly called on Will Warren when he had a 1-2 count on Jose Altuve.

Umpire: Brian Walsh
Final: Yankees 7, Astros 8#RepBX // #BuiltForThis #NYYvsHOU // #HOUvsNYY

More stats for this ump https://t.co/PaIfvKx15b pic.twitter.com/udtCjIHcef
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) September 4, 2025

The next came in the top of the 4th. On a 2-0 count, a ball was called a strike on Giancarlo Stanton. The last came in the 8th. With two outs and the bases loaded, a ball was called a strike on Williams. Williams later walked Taylor Trammell that at-bat.

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