Blue Notes · Umpire Grade2026-09-26
“Somebody's pitching staff sent a thank-you note.”
Umpire Grade
89.7% accurate
Run Favor
runs, DET
ABS Overturns
of 4 reviewed
What this shows — how Laz Diaz called the 165 pitches that were taken (no swing), graded against the tracked rulebook strike zone. He got 148 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▲5 · 3-2 ball called strike
Spencer Horwitz vs Justin Verlander - 2+0.39▼3 · 2-2 strike called ball· challenged
Kevin McGonigle vs Yohan Ramírez - 3+0.28▼2 · 1-2 strike called ball
Riley Greene 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
4 pitches went to the robots · 0 overturned (ump overruled) · 4 upheld (ump confirmed). This is the ABS system’s own measurement — Hawk-Eye optical ball-tracking, not our model.
- 1Kevin McGonigle — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
- 2Henry Davis — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
- 3Spencer Torkelson — ump said strike, robot ruled strike: upheld.
- 4Henry Davis — ump said ball, robot ruled ball: upheld.
Our tracked-rulebook zone matched the ABS ruling on 2 of 4 — a zone-definition gap (ABS grades a standardized, height-based zone), not our error.