Everyone's favorite umpire, Angel Hernandez, worked his first game of the season behind the plate this week, leading to a near meltdown from Washington Nationals color commentator Kevin Frandsen.
In Umpire Angel Hernandez's first game behind the plate since an April injury, he struggled to find the bottom of the zone.
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) August 3, 2023
The Nationals announcers were VERY vocal about what they thought of Angel.
Especially after a missed ball led to a hitter's count and a HR. pic.twitter.com/IVCLgOmT28
Hernandez missed several calls during the Nationals' matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, and Frandsen didn't hold back his criticism. After one debatable call went against Nationals' starter Mackenzie Gore, Frandsen said of Hernandez, "You cannot miss this bad," before, on queue, the very next pitch resulted in a home run.
"You know what the difference between 1-2 and 2-1 is?" Frandsen said. "Well, let's try about 200 points on the average and over 340 on the slugging percentage. Literally with a horrendous call by Angel Hernandez."
Ángel Hernández's balls and strikes today in his first game behind the plate in an MLB game in almost 10 months pic.twitter.com/SWjssVDBpl
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 2, 2023
Hernandez is arguably the most vilified umpire in all of baseball and for a good reason. Earlier this week, he showed he can have a negative impact even when he's not calling balls and strikes. Hernandez blew a call at second, which clearly showed Nationals' Alex Call tagged out trying to steal. However, Hernandez ruled Call safe, forcing the Brewers to use a challenge to reverse the call.
Welcome back, Ángel Hernández! pic.twitter.com/iIhEiq7Sj2
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 1, 2023
Hernandez had been out of action since April 3, reportedly nursing a back injury. But he is now cleared to return, much to the chagrin of pitchers, catchers and managers everywhere.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!