Plate umps have been missing calls on Yankees' Aaron Judge
Yankees centerfielder Aaron Judge gestures during an MLB game against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Umpires deserve scrutiny regarding how they call balls and strikes on Yankees star and American League MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge. They have called 53 pitches that were outside of his strike zone – almost all at the bottom of the zone – strikes this season. That is the most missed calls against any player in 2022.
When it happened in the eighth inning on Tuesday against Oakland, manager Aaron Boone got ejected for arguing the point that a 6-7 hitter doesn’t have the same strike zone as everyone else.
That display may have been a part of Boone’s effort to raise awareness to a serious issue.
Asked Wednesday about what recourse there is to effect change, Boone replied, “try and make people aware of it, which we do.”
“I do think there are days where I do see umpires making adjustments to it,” he added. “As best you can, just make them aware.”
In years past, Judge might have chased pitches low in the zone, but less so this season.
“Part of it is the volume of pitches that Aaron sees down there,” Boone said. “A lot of times, when you’re a great hitter, great hitters don’t leave the zone as much. That plays into it and I don’t want him leaving that zone. . . . We feel that it needs to improve. It is an issue, especially with one of the great players in the sport.”
Two hits for LI's Laureano
Oakland’s Ramon Laureano, who played high school ball at Upper Room Christian School in Dix Hills, had two hits and a run scored but was thrown out attempting to steal by Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka in the fifth inning. The outfielder has a career .784 OPS and could be a trade target for contenders as the A’s rebuild this season.
Chapman ready to go
Aroldis Chapman will come off the IL and rejoin the Yankees’ bullpen for Thursday’s game in Houston or on Friday for the opener of a three-game series in Cleveland. “I’m probably leaning more toward Friday, Boone said, “but [Thursday] is possible.” The lefthander threw a scoreless inning in a minor league game on Tuesday, the third time he’s done that in five days. . . . Reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, on the IL since late May with right shoulder inflammation, threw a bullpen session Wednesday and will begin facing batters this weekend at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa . . .
The Yankees signed righty Ryan Weber to a major league contract and added him to the active roster. He will serve in a long relief role.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
