Umpire Grade · Blue Notes

Bruce Dreckman

25 games graded behind the plate.

Season Grade

91.7% ± 0.9

Avg Swing

runs / game

ABS Overturns

64/109 calls

3,507 correct of 3,823 graded takes (91.7% ± 0.9, 95%). Best game 96.2% · worst 86.3%. 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 Bruce Dreckman

This season is 3,823 graded takes, which puts Bruce Dreckman's overall accuracy at 91.7% ± 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 765 takes, so ±2.0 points. (the league-wide two-strike effect is about 1 point in 2026.)
any single corner of the zone — about 319 takes, so ±3.0 points. (corner cells are where umpires actually differ.)
whether one pitcher is called tighter than another — about 64 takes, so ±6.7 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 109 pitches players chose to challenge, which are the pitches they already believed were wrong. 109 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

The Kid Who Wanted to Umpire

From Sioux City softball to the major leagues, Bruce Dreckman built his career on wanting to call the game.

Growing up in northwest Iowa, Bruce Dreckman was unusual among kids who loved baseball. While the others wanted to play, he wanted to umpire. He started by calling men's fast-pitch softball in Sioux City, working games before he had a career to speak of, then attended umpiring school and turned professional.

The climb ran through five minor leagues: the Appalachian League, the Midwest League, the Carolina League, the Southern League, and the American Association. On April 5, 1996, he debuted at Wrigley Field, Cubs and Dodgers.

He wears uniform number 1 and works on Crew K, whose crew chief is Mark Wegner. We have graded him behind the plate in 20 games this season, and the record on this page is the reason his name is here.

Two No-Hitters

Dreckman was the first base umpire for Roy Halladay's no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS. A year later, he was behind the plate for Francisco Liriano's no-hitter in 2011. He worked the All-Star Game in 2010 and was selected for his second in 2024. His postseason assignments include NL Division Series in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, and 2019, and NL Championship Series in 2009 and 2013.

The Wrist Indicator

Most umpires carry a handheld indicator to track balls and strikes. Dreckman wears two elastic down indicators on his wrists, moving them to different fingers the way a football referee tracks downs. He is the only current MLB umpire known to use the method.

Reporting: Wikipedia, KLEM 1410. Umpire data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.

By the Desk · filed 2026-07-23 — 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
CLE @ COL2026-08-22	B	0.1 COL	2/3	Nothing that'll trend, and on this beat that's a compliment.
ATL @ MIN2026-08-17	B-	0.1 MIN	2/2	You had to throw it down Broadway to get the call.
PHI @ MIN2026-08-13	B	0.3 MIN	0/0	You had to throw it down Broadway to get the call.
LAD @ AZ2026-08-07	B-	0.4 AZ	3/6	A steady night's work behind the plate.
BOS @ ATH2026-07-29	B+	0.4 ATH	4/7	An honest evening's grade: nothing loud, nothing missed by much.
WSH @ COL2026-07-21	A-	0.4 COL	3/4	A steady night's work behind the plate.
MIN @ CHC2026-07-17	D	0.4 MIN	5/7	A busy night for the machines in the truck.
PIT @ WSH2026-07-04	B+	0.4 WSH	3/5	Nothing that'll trend, and on this beat that's a compliment.
CWS @ BAL2026-06-29	C+	0.8 BAL	7/9	A busy night for the machines in the truck.
AZ @ STL2026-06-24	C+	0.5 STL	1/2	Borderline went to the battery all night.
HOU @ KC2026-06-12	D	0.6 KC	6/8	The Automated Ball-Strike System put in some overtime here.
TB @ MIA2026-06-07	B	0.9 MIA	1/3	Off the corner was close enough tonight.
TOR @ ATL2026-06-03	C+	0.4 TOR	1/2	If it was close, it was a strike. The hitters noticed.
KC @ TEX2026-05-29	B+	0.3 TEX	3/6	The kind of night where the umpire is the least of the story.
COL @ AZ2026-05-24	B-	0.1 COL	0/0	Reliable as a Tuesday: no complaints, no headlines.
LAD @ SD2026-05-20	A	0.5 LAD	0/2	An honest evening's grade: nothing loud, nothing missed by much.
ATH @ BAL2026-05-08	C	0.7 BAL	3/6	Borderline went to the battery all night.
PHI @ MIA2026-05-04	D	1.0 PHI	1/3	Somebody's pitching staff sent a thank-you note.
COL @ CIN2026-04-30	A	0.3 COL	2/4	Reliable as a Tuesday: no complaints, no headlines.
BAL @ CLE2026-04-19	B+	0.2 BAL	5/7	The players kept asking for a second opinion — and kept getting one.
CHC @ PHI2026-04-15	B	0.2 PHI	2/3	Called a fair game and let the players decide it.
WSH @ MIL2026-04-11	C+	1.0 WSH	2/5	Expanded the plate a touch past its 17 inches.
ATH @ NYY2026-04-07	C+	1.1 NYY	5/8	A few too many trips to the challenge cart.
BOS @ HOU2026-04-01	C	0.1 BOS	3/3	Expanded the plate a touch past its 17 inches.
CWS @ MIL2026-03-28	B+	0.2 MIL	0/4	Called a fair game and let the players decide it.