Add Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Greg Brown to the growing chorus of baseball insiders calling for a solution to erratic strike zone calls in the sport.
The SportsNet Pittsburgh play-by-play man tweeted a video of the first pitch in Friday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Left-hander Kyle Harrison threw a pitch that appeared to be well outside to Bucs leadoff man Andrew McCutchen.
Home plate umpire Gabe Morales called it a strike.
Brown tweeted Saturday that he talked with McCutchen after the game, then noted, “At-bat-altering (& possibly, game-altering) call. Hitters & pitchers alike are frustrated. Believe it’s happening more than ever. Not beating up on umps, but this needs fixed.”
Had conversation w/ @TheCUTCH22 after the game. This was the 1st pitch last night. At-bat-altering (& possibly, game-altering) call. Hitters & pitchers alike r frustrated. Believe it's happening more than ever. Not beating up on umps, but this needs fixed. pic.twitter.com/KnBqFGHT3t
— Greg Brown (@gbrowniepoints) April 27, 2024
It’s perhaps a stretch to call that pitch a “game-altering” call, but then again the game was scoreless until the Giants walked it off in the bottom of the ninth, so who knows what might have happened if McCutchen had worked a count in his favor to reach base to start the game.
What is not a matter for debate is that more and more broadcasters are speaking out about terrible balls-and-strikes calls. Umpire Ángel Hernández is a threat to go viral anytime he works behind home plate, as MLB announcers have been frustrated and stunned by some of his terrible calls this season.
While Hernández has been the face of bad calls, he’s certainly not alone. Umpire Ryan Blakney made the most egregious call in recent memory on April 20 in the Baltimore-Kansas City game, when he called the first pitch of the game, which hit almost dead center in the strike zone, a ball.
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1781840522136715394
Morales missed a number of calls on both sides Friday night, but his biggest miscue might have come in the seventh inning. With Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds at the plate and the bases loaded, Morales called a strike on a pitch well above the strike zone.
Reynolds, visibly frustrated by the call, proceeded to strike out. Some might point out that in the same at-bat, Morales called a ball on a pitch that painted the inside corner, but strike zone enforcement isn’t supposed to work like that.
MLB insider Jeff Passan and others have suggested MLB adopt an automated strike zone and a challenge system to deal with the issue.
Brown later tweeted a video of a recent sequence in a Pirates game against the Boston Red Sox. Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller threw three pitches in the zone against Tristan Casas that were called balls, leading to a walk. Brown shared the NESN broadcast.
Saturday, April 20. @NESN broadcast. pic.twitter.com/90O0rqZhXN
— Greg Brown (@gbrowniepoints) April 27, 2024
That’s certainly one thing all MLB broadcasters agree on this season — strike zone enforcement has been terrible.
[Greg Brown; Photo Credit: SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLB.com (strike zone chart)]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.