Ramon De Jesus
22 games graded behind the plate.
3,023 correct of 3,263 graded takes (92.6% ± 0.9, 95%). Best game 96.4% · worst 88.2%. 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 Ramon De Jesus
This season is 3,263 graded takes, which puts Ramon De Jesus's overall accuracy at 92.6% ± 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 653 takes, so ±2.0 points. (the league-wide two-strike effect is about 1 point in 2026.)
- any single corner of the zone — about 272 takes, so ±3.1 points. (corner cells are where umpires actually differ.)
- whether one pitcher is called tighter than another — about 54 takes, so ±7.0 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 103 pitches players chose to challenge, which are the pitches they already believed were wrong. 103 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
Ramon De Jesus
The first MLB umpire born in the Dominican Republic, and the road from Monte Plata to the plate.
From Monte Plata
Ramon De Jesus was born in August 1983 in Monte Plata, Dominican Republic. He began umpiring in the Dominican Republic in 2002, working amateur leagues that ran from Little League up through an independent baseball circuit. He called games in the Dominican Republic until 2009, when he moved to the U.S. minor leagues. His climb in the U.S. minor leagues went through the Gulf Coast League, the New York-Penn League, the South Atlantic League, the Florida State League, the Eastern League, and the Arizona Fall League before he reached the Pacific Coast League — his final stop before the majors.
On April 22, 2016, at Comerica Park in Detroit, De Jesus made his major league debut. The Indians beat the Tigers 2–1. Several players native to the Dominican Republic were on the Cleveland roster that day, and De Jesus was the first MLB umpire born in the Dominican Republic. He said it meant a lot to reach the big leagues carrying that distinction. He wore uniform number 18, previously worn by Marcus Pattillo.
He was added to the permanent major league umpiring staff in 2020. His assignments since have carried him to the inaugural MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he worked first base; the 2023 World Baseball Classic; and the 2023 All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. He also served as a replay official for the 2022 American League and National League Division Series.
This season, we have graded him behind the plate in 17 games — the record on this page.
Reporting: MLB.com, Baseball Reference Bullpen, Wikipedia. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM @ CWS2026-08-21 | B | 0.1 NYM | 4/6 | Called a fair game and let the players decide it. |
| KC @ LAA2026-08-16 | B+ | 0.8 KC | 0/0 | Reliable as a Tuesday: no complaints, no headlines. |
| TB @ ATH2026-08-11 | B | 0.5 TB | 4/5 | Borderline went to the battery all night. |
| DET @ SF2026-08-07 | B+ | 0.5 DET | 1/3 | Called a fair game and let the players decide it. |
| SD @ AZ2026-08-03 | C | 0.1 SD | 2/5 | The zone stretched its legs. |
| PIT @ NYY2026-07-22 | C+ | 0.2 NYY | 2/5 | Corner-to-corner and then some. |
| HOU @ TEX2026-07-11 | B+ | 0.1 TEX | 2/6 | A workmanlike night — nothing to frame, nothing to fix. |
| CHC @ BAL2026-07-07 | B | 0.3 BAL | 2/3 | Pitchers earned every strike the hard way. |
| MIA @ COL2026-07-02 | B | 0.8 COL | 0/3 | The plate grew a few inches after the first pitch. |
| LAD @ SD2026-06-28 | B+ | 1.1 LAD | 2/4 | Tonight's zone had a rooting interest. |
| ATH @ SF2026-06-24 | D | 1.8 ATH | 5/6 | The players kept asking for a second opinion — and kept getting one. |
| NYY @ TOR2026-06-13 | A | 0.1 NYY | 0/4 | No notes. Well, one: nicely done. |
| AZ @ MIA2026-06-10 | B- | 0.4 AZ | 5/5 | Hawkeye did more talking than the umpire tonight. |
| PIT @ ATL2026-06-05 | B- | 0.2 ATL | 6/8 | The robots earned their keep tonight. |
| SF @ MIL2026-06-01 | A | 1.0 MIL | 3/5 | Down the middle. Both dugouts had the same zone. |
| HOU @ TEX2026-05-28 | A | 0.2 TEX | 3/5 | The zone kept its promises. |
| MIA @ TB2026-05-17 | B | 0.0 MIA | 3/4 | Solid and unspectacular — exactly what the job asks. |
| COL @ PIT2026-05-13 | B | 0.4 PIT | 4/4 | Pitchers earned every strike the hard way. |
| MIN @ CLE2026-05-08 | B- | 0.8 MIN | 3/4 | Generous with the corners — the pitchers said thank you. |
| CLE @ TOR2026-04-26 | B | 0.3 CLE | 3/7 | Off the corner was close enough tonight. |
| SEA @ LAA2026-04-03 | B+ | 0.0 SEA | 2/7 | The zone kept its promises. |
| PIT @ NYM2026-03-29 | B | 1.7 NYM | 2/4 | The grade leaned — the ledger says which way. |