Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-06-19
LAA @ ATH
Home plate: Dan Merzel
“The zone kept its promises.”
Umpire Grade
94.7% accurate
Run Favor
runs, LAA
ABS Overturns
of 6 reviewed
What this shows — how Dan Merzel called the 209 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 198 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
- 1-0.69▼1 · 3-2 ball called strike· challenged ✓
Nick Kurtz vs José Soriano - 2+0.23▼2 · 0-2 strike called ball
Henry Bolte vs José Soriano - 3-0.21▼10 · 3-0 ball called strike
Henry Bolte vs Kirby Yates
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 · 2 overturned (ump overruled) · 4 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.
- 1Nick Kurtz — ump said strike, robot ruled ball: overturned.
- 2Shea Langeliers — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
- 3Henry Bolte — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
- 4Logan O'Hoppe — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
- 5Logan O'Hoppe — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
- 6Tyler Heineman — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 4 of 6 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone), not our error.