Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-04-30
“One side pitched to a slightly bigger plate.”
Umpire Grade
91.2% accurate
Run Favor
runs, HOU
ABS Overturns
of 4 reviewed
What this shows — how Rob Drake called the 159 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 145 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▼4 · 2-2 ball called strike
Dylan Beavers vs Peter Lambert - 2-0.39▼5 · 2-2 ball called strike· challenged ✓
Blaze Alexander vs Peter Lambert - 3-0.21▼4 · 3-0 ball called strike
Pete Alonso vs Peter Lambert
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
4 pitches went to the robots · 3 overturned (ump overruled) · 1 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.
- 1Adley Rutschman — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
- 2Jose Altuve — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
- 3Blaze Alexander — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
- 4Christian Vázquez — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 4 of 4 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone), not our error.