Adrian Johnson
20 games graded behind the plate.
2,932 correct of 3,192 graded takes (91.8% ± 0.9, 95%). Best game 95.8% · worst 85.9%. Grade is accuracy on taken pitches vs the rulebook zone; ABS is the Automated Ball-Strike System challenge record (how often the robots overruled the call).
What we can't say about Adrian Johnson
This season is 3,192 graded takes, which puts Adrian Johnson's overall accuracy at 91.8% ± 0.9 (95% interval). That is a real measurement against a league spanning about four points end to end. It is not enough for anything finer, and here is the arithmetic rather than our word for it:
- how the zone moves with two strikes — about 638 takes, so ±2.1 points. (the league-wide two-strike effect is about 1 point in 2026.)
- any single corner of the zone — about 266 takes, so ±3.3 points. (corner cells are where umpires actually differ.)
- whether one pitcher is called tighter than another — about 53 takes, so ±7.4 points. (a given pitcher is worked once or twice a season.)
And a note on the number itself: an accuracy figure is a rate plus a convention for what counts as a miss. Ours grades every taken pitch against the rulebook zone as the feed reports it. Others are more forgiving — UmpScorecards counts a call wrong only when the pitch was at least 90% likely to be a strike — so two sites can print the same percentage about the same umpire and not mean the same thing by it. How the grade is built.
The overturn rate is a different kind of number and does not belong beside the grade: it is accuracy on the 107 pitches players chose to challenge, which are the pitches they already believed were wrong. 107 is enough to print it with its own denominator, which is what we do — but it still ranks umpires by how often they are appealed, not by how often they are right.
The road to the plate
Adrian Johnson
Born in Houston in 1975, he reached the majors in 2006, was promoted to crew chief in 2023, and has been on the field for no-hitters and a record three-grand-slam game.
On June 25, 2010, Adrian Johnson was the home plate umpire for Edwin Jackson's no-hitter. Jackson needed 149 pitches and issued eight walks in a 1-0 Diamondbacks win over the Rays. Johnson later said he did not realize a no-hitter was in progress until the sixth or seventh inning.
The Road From Houston
Adrian Andre Johnson was born on May 25, 1975, in Houston, Texas, where he still resides. He worked his way through the Gulf Coast, Pioneer, South Atlantic, Florida State, Eastern, and International leagues — six levels of minor league baseball — before umpiring his first major league game on April 19, 2006, wearing uniform number 80. He was named to the full-time Major League umpiring staff prior to the 2010 season.
His first All-Star Game assignment came in 2016 in San Diego, and his first postseason series followed in 2017. In 2023, he was promoted to crew chief, becoming one of only three Black crew chiefs in AL/NL history.
He has been on the field for other nights that found the record book. On August 25, 2011, Johnson was the home plate umpire when the New York Yankees hit a record three grand slams in a single game against the Oakland Athletics. On June 1, 2012, he was at third base when Johan Santana no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, making a fair-or-foul ruling on a Carlos Beltran ground ball in the sixth inning.
Johnson works behind the plate in 2026. We have graded him in 12 of his games this season.
Reporting: Wikipedia, MLB.com, AP News. Umpire data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.
By the Desk · filed 2026-07-24 — the profile reads as of its filing; the grading record above is live · every fact in this piece comes from a sourced research pack and clears an independent fact-check, and nothing is edited after filing.
The games
| Game | Grade | Favor | ABS | Blue Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF @ ATL2026-08-31 | C+ | 1.5 ATL | 4/6 | Two dugouts, and only one of them smiling. |
| TB @ DET2026-08-26 | C | 0.4 DET | 4/6 | Generous with the corners — the pitchers said thank you. |
| NYM @ CWS2026-08-22 | A- | 0.8 NYM | 5/7 | This one went to video review more than most. |
| SEA @ MIL2026-08-18 | D | 0.3 SEA | 2/3 | The plate grew a few inches after the first pitch. |
| TB @ ATH2026-08-12 | B- | 0.4 TB | 4/6 | The zone had wings tonight. |
| DET @ SF2026-08-08 | C | 0.1 DET | 8/9 | Hawkeye clocked in early and stayed late. |
| SF @ TEX2026-08-04 | A- | 1.3 TEX | 3/5 | Two dugouts, and only one of them smiling. |
| TOR @ BOS2026-07-24 | C+ | 1.3 TOR | 4/7 | Two dugouts, and only one of them smiling. |
| HOU @ TEX2026-07-12 | A- | 0.0 TEX | 2/4 | Solid and unspectacular — exactly what the job asks. |
| CHC @ BAL2026-07-08 | A- | 0.1 BAL | 5/5 | The robots earned their keep tonight. |
| LAD @ SD2026-06-26 | B | 1.1 SD | 2/4 | Somebody's pitching staff sent a thank-you note. |
| BOS @ SEA2026-06-21 | B- | 0.5 SEA | 3/4 | The zone kept to itself — the hitters said thanks. |
| DET @ HOU2026-06-16 | B- | 0.1 DET | 2/4 | Expanded the plate a touch past its 17 inches. |
| HOU @ TEX2026-05-26 | B | 0.6 HOU | 3/3 | Nothing off the plate, and not much on the black either. |
| BAL @ KC2026-04-22 | A | 0.4 BAL | 1/4 | Reliable as a Tuesday: no complaints, no headlines. |
| TB @ PIT2026-04-18 | B- | 1.7 PIT | 1/6 | Two dugouts, and only one of them smiling. |
| DET @ MIN2026-04-09 | C+ | 0.1 DET | 5/7 | The Automated Ball-Strike System put in some overtime here. |
| SEA @ LAA2026-04-05 | B | 0.1 LAA | 7/9 | The players kept asking for a second opinion — and kept getting one. |
| CLE @ LAD2026-03-31 | B | 0.3 CLE | 3/5 | If it was close, it was a strike. The hitters noticed. |
| PIT @ NYM2026-03-26 | B- | 1.0 PIT | 2/3 | The grade leaned — the ledger says which way. |