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RECORD: 0 HIT · 0 MISS · 12 OPEN · FIRST CALL RESOLVES AUG 12
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Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-05-02

CLE @ ATH

Home plate: Dan Merzel

“The kind of night where the umpire is the least of the story.”

A
Umpire Grade
96.5% accurate
0.4
Run Favor
runs, ATH
2
ABS Overturns
of 5 reviewed

What this shows — how Dan Merzel called the 169 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: Shea Langeliers — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled ball (upheld — ump confirmed).1Challenge 2: Brayan Rocchio — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled strike (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).2Challenge 3: Austin Hedges — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled ball (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).3Challenge 4: Angel Martínez — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled strike (upheld — ump confirmed).4Challenge 5: José Ramírez — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled strike (upheld — ump confirmed).5
strike called ballball called strikeABS overturnedABS upheld

The calls that moved the game

  1. 1+0.23▼8 · 0-2 strike called ball
    Brett Harris vs Hunter Gaddis
  2. 2+0.13▼4 · 1-0 strike called ball
    Carlos Cortes vs Slade Cecconi
  3. 3-0.13▲7 · 1-0 ball called strike
    Angel Martínez vs Scott Barlow

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

5 pitches went to the robots · 2 overturned (ump overruled) · 3 upheld (ump confirmed). This is Hawkeye ground truth, no model involved.

  1. 1Shea Langeliers — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
  2. 2Brayan Rocchio — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
  3. 3Austin Hedges — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
  4. 4Angel Martínez — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
  5. 5José Ramírez — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.

Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 3 of 5 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone), not our error.