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Washington Nationals slugger Lane Thomas was the victim of an MLB Ump Show on Thursday during a matchup against the Detroit Tigers. He somehow landed an ejection without saying a word!
The righty was tossed by the home plate umpire after his third at-bat for questioning balls and strikes. The blue’s power trip had even the broadcast booth fuming!
Thomas stepped to the dish in the sixth inning of play during a 1-1 ballgame. With nobody out and nobody on, he watched a 2-2 pitch from Casey Mize zip through the zone.
According to pitchcast, it was correctly called a strike. That doesn’t make the umpire’s response to Lane Thomas’s reaction any better.
The batter simply turned his head back towards the plate to show his displeasure with the call after being rung up on strikes. A moment later, he was ejected!
Audio and video of Lane Thomas’ ejection. He literally doesn’t say a word before he’s tossed by home plate umpire Emil Jimenez, who is a second-year ump. pic.twitter.com/sahRKUz32f
— Bobby Blanco (@Bobby_Blanco) June 13, 2024
Washington commentators couldn’t believe their eyes.
“He never said anything, that’s just bad!” a crew member exclaimed in disbelief.
Thomas had a similar response.
“What!? Are you kidding me? I didn’t look at you, it was at the ball!” he said, attempting to plead his case.
Those pleas fell upon deaf ears as he was shown the locker room door. Fans immediately reacted to the ump show.
“Power Trip. Ejections should be reserved for actual issues, not because an umpire got his feelings hurt.”
“Another point for robot umps.”
“The ump shows are getting out of hand.”
The umpire was second-year blue Emil Jimenez, and it was clear he took offense to Thomas’s reaction. Most believe he overstepped with the ejection, though, and the video certainly didn’t help his case.