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Angel Hernandez wound up on the wrong side of yet another controversial call on Sunday, this time during a matchup between the Yankees and Blue Jays.
Fans in New York voiced their displeasure with the umpire, chanting “Angel Sucks,” from the stands in Yankee Stadium.
The call led to a strikeout of Bronx Bomber Gleyber Torres. Staring at a 3-2 count, the leadoff man awaited a delivery from Toronto pitcher Bowden Francis.
Prior to making that pitch, Francis appeared to misstep during his windup, causing him to remove his right foot from the rubber. He then delivered a pitch well above the top of the strike zone, which Angel Hernandez called a strike.
Chaos ensued.
You can usually set your watch to Ángel Hernández getting a call wrong. This is how it looked like YES Network: pic.twitter.com/NFSmYWGVPH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 7, 2024
New York manager Aaron Boone quickly left the dugout as Torres pleaded his case to the umpire. Not only should the pitch have been ruled a ball, but having the pitcher reset his foot likely should’ve nixed the delivery altogether.
Instead of making his way down to first base with a walk, or getting to see another pitch from Francis, Torres was ruled out.
“Angel Sucks,” chants quickly rained down at Yankee Stadium with Hernandez having yet to make it through the first inning.
Unfortunately, it’s far from a first for the blue. Rated as the worst umpire in terms of miss rate last season, that inconsistency has trickled into his 2024 campaign.
While calling a game for the crosstown rival Mets last week, Hernandez blatantly missed a check-swing call that likely took runs off the board for the Detroit Tigers in extra innings.
Luckily, it wouldn’t affect the outcome. Not the best week for the blue!