Fever BaseballFor collectors and stat nerdsFuture Value Radar (FVR) · On the record
Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-08-08

ATL @ NYY

Home plate: Dan Merzel

One dugout got the friendlier version of the evening.

A-
Umpire Grade
94.8% accurate
1.4
Run Favor
runs, NYY
2
ABS Overturns
of 5 reviewed

What this shows — how Dan Merzel called the 154 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 146 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: Mike Yastrzemski — the ump called it a strike, the robot ruled strike (upheld — ump confirmed).1Challenge 2: George Lombard Jr. — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled strike (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).2Challenge 3: George Lombard Jr. — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled strike (OVERTURNED — ump overruled).3Challenge 4: Austin Wells — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled ball (upheld — ump confirmed).4Challenge 5: Austin Wells — the ump called it a ball, the robot ruled ball (upheld — ump confirmed).5
strike called ballball called strikeABS overturnedABS upheld

The calls that moved the game

  1. 1+0.695 · 3-2 strike called ball· challenged
    George Lombard Jr. vs Chris Sale
  2. 2+0.308 · 3-1 strike called ball
    Spencer Jones vs Danny Young
  3. 3+0.282 · 1-2 strike called ball
    George Lombard Jr. vs Chris Sale

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 the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.

  1. 1Mike Yastrzemski — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
  2. 2George Lombard Jr. — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
  3. 3George Lombard Jr. — ump said ball, robot ruled strike: overturned.
  4. 4Austin Wells — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
  5. 5Austin Wells — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: 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.

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