Fever BaseballFor collectors and stat nerdsFuture Value Radar (FVR) · On the record
Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-05-09

HOU @ CIN

Home plate: David Rackley

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

A
Umpire Grade
95.4% accurate
0.1
Run Favor
runs, HOU
2
ABS Overturns
of 4 reviewed

What this shows — how David Rackley called the 130 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 124 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: Cam Smith — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled strike (upheld — ump confirmed).1Challenge 2: Sal Stewart — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled ball (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).2Challenge 3: Jose Altuve — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled ball (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).3Challenge 4: Jose Trevino — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled ball (upheld — ump confirmed).4
strike called ballball called strikeABS overturnedABS upheld

The calls that moved the game

  1. 1-0.195 · 2-0 ball called strike
    Will Benson vs Spencer Arrighetti
  2. 2-0.198 · 2-0 ball called strike· challenged
    Jose Altuve vs Graham Ashcraft
  3. 3-0.134 · 1-0 ball called strike
    Nathaniel Lowe vs Spencer Arrighetti

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 · 2 overturned (ump overruled) · 2 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.

  1. 1Cam Smith — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
  2. 2Sal Stewart — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
  3. 3Jose Altuve — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
  4. 4Jose Trevino — 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.

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