MLB Umpire Brian Walsh's Poor Performance in Yankees-Astros May Lead to Immediate Changes

Next Year Could Bring the ABS System

The addition of the automated balls-strikes (ABS) system feels like an inevitability at this point, and Yankee fans specifically could be the most overjoyed. For his whole career, Aaron Judge (and manager Aaron Boone) have been outraged by Judge, at 6'7, getting the same low strike calls as someone perhaps a more human height.

The ABS system would personalize each hitter's strike zone, meaning Judge would either automatically have a strike zone tailored to his height, or he could challenge a call that he feels is incorrect.

The MLB is aware of the benefits to this system, as they tested it out in Triple-A, and during this year's All-Star Game, on the main stage.

Performances like Walsh's reflect poorly on the equity of baseball, when one side feels they have been specifically receiving unfair treatment by an umpire. It is one thing for an umpire to be an equal opportunity poor performer, it's another thing to have such a warped scorecard.

That could change next year, if for no reason other than to allow players to instantly challenge a call at the risk of losing their one challenge.

Better Umpires On Big Games

This is not the first time Walsh has been targeted for poor calls. While umpiring the Blue Jays-Orioles game July 28, Walsh missed a strike that was not hyperbolically right down the middle.

Orioles announcer Kevin Brown vented: "I mean, you couldn't set it on a tee in the heart of the plate any better than that. How do you miss that?"

Funnily enough, despite that missed call, Walsh went far in the opposite direction. Umpire Scorecards, a popular website for evaluating officials' performances, said Walsh's calls that day had a 0.72 favorability in favor of the Orioles.

In contrast, Walsh's performance in the Astros-Yankees game had a 1.4 favorability score for the Astros in what was statistically his most skewed performance in favor of the home team.

Performances like these are not just bad reputationally for Walsh, but it's bad for baseball. If Walsh did not call Chisholm out on strikes, it would have brought up Giancarlo Stanton as the go-ahead run in a game the Yankees came into the ninth inning trailing 8-4. If the Yankees are going to lose that game, it can't be at the hands of the umpire.

Regardless of what happens with ABS, Rob Manfred's office has to be aware of the impact of controversial umpiring, especially in an age where fans want scapegoats for their team's poor performance. One would expect the top umpires in the league to get first dibs at the top games in October.

Ultimately, Walsh's performance rightfully outraged a lot of people around the world of baseball, for exactly the aforementioned reason - fans want consistency, and if an umpire is documented to be consistently bad, and have clear missed spots on both teams, that is better than seemingly favoring one side or another.