Statistics Show That MLB Umpires Are Actually Better Than They’ve Ever Been (Except For Angel Hernandez)

Sooner or later, it feels like robot umpires will be the norm for Major League Baseball games.

After all, nobody likes paying their hard earned money to go see their favorite player hit dingers on for the home plate umpire to pretend he’s the star of the show.

At very least, it feels like the MLB should be using a challenge system similar to the one being tested in the minors.

And it feels like umpires only seem to get worse with each passing year.

But as it turns out, that’s not the case. In fact, not only is that not the case. But home plate umpires actually just finished their best season on record from a statistical standpoint.

Twitter account @CodifyBaseball reports that MLB umpires missed over 21,000 balls and strikes calls during the 2023 regular season. Which seems like a lot! But in reality, it was their best season ever.

As Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post wrote in June, MLB umpires are better now than they’ve ever been before at calling balls and strikes.

The problem, however, is that they still missed 21 thousands calls,

“They’re mostly outstanding, even if they’re only remembered for the small fraction of calls that go wrong,” Svrluga wrote in his piece. “Why put them — why put players and teams and fans — through that when the technology is there to turn wrongs into rights? More than that: Why risk allowing a postseason game to change on an obvious strike that is called a ball when we know it can be reversed? Baseball is no longer stodgy. It is progressive. Keep going.”

There are, however, still outliers.

Despite the uptick in correct calls across the league, Angel Hernandez is still as bad as ever.

Hernandez missed a large chuck of the season following a back injury. Yet he still finished the season as league’s worst umpire from a statistical standpoint.

Death. Taxes. And Angel Hernandez.

Am I right?