Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-04-12
“If it was close, it was a strike. The hitters noticed.”
Umpire Grade
92.2% accurate
Run Favor
runs, CIN
ABS Overturns
of 2 reviewed
What this shows — how Ben May called the 204 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 188 right. Below, only his misses are plotted, alongside every pitch the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike System) reviewed on a challenge.
The zone, as he called it
strike called ballball called strikeABS overturnedABS upheld
The calls that moved the game
- 1+0.39▼7 · 2-2 strike called ball· challenged
Nathaniel Lowe vs José Soriano - 2+0.28▼4 · 1-2 strike called ball
Elly De La Cruz vs José Soriano - 3+0.19▲4 · 2-0 strike called ball
Mike Trout vs Kyle Nicolas
Run impact from the count run-value table: a missed strike three is worth far more than one on 3-0.
ABS — the Automated Ball-Strike System
2 pitches went to the robots · 1 overturned (ump overruled) · 1 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.
- 1P.J. Higgins — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
- 2Logan O'Hoppe — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 1 of 2 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone), not our error.