Fever BaseballFor collectors and stat nerdsFuture Value Radar (FVR) · On the record
Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-04-27

CHC @ SD

Home plate: Dan Merzel

An honest evening's grade: nothing loud, nothing missed by much.

B+
Umpire Grade
93.1% accurate
0.0
Run Favor
runs, CHC
3
ABS Overturns
of 6 reviewed

What this shows — how Dan Merzel called the 175 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 163 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

Challenge 1: Matthew Boyd — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled ball (upheld — ump confirmed).1Challenge 2: Seiya Suzuki — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled ball (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).2Challenge 3: Moisés Ballesteros — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled ball (upheld — ump confirmed).3Challenge 4: Freddy Fermin — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled strike (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).4Challenge 5: Freddy Fermin — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled strike (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).5Challenge 6: Nick Castellanos — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled strike (upheld — ump confirmed).6
strike called ballball called strikeABS overturnedABS upheld

The calls that moved the game

  1. 1+0.395 · 2-2 strike called ball
    Ty France vs Ben Brown
  2. 2+0.285 · 1-2 strike called ball
    Ian Happ vs Randy Vásquez
  3. 3+0.237 · 0-2 strike called ball· challenged
    Michael Busch vs Adrian Morejon

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

6 pitches went to the robots · 3 overturned (ump overruled) · 3 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.

  1. 1Matthew Boyd — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
  2. 2Seiya Suzuki — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
  3. 3Moisés Ballesteros — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
  4. 4Freddy Fermin — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
  5. 5Freddy Fermin — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
  6. 6Nick Castellanos — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.

Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 6 of 6 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone), not our error.

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