Over the last 30-plus years in the big leagues, Ángel Hernández has built a reputation for himself as being, well, not exactly MLB’s most accurate umpire.
He added to that legacy Friday night during the Texas Rangers’ series opener against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Rangers rookie phenom Wyatt Langford worked the count to 2–0 in his third at-bat against Houston starting pitcher J.P. France. The right-hander delivered a third pitch well outside the strike zone, but Hernández called it a strike. And then he did it again. And again.
Langford was called out on three straight strike calls that clearly were way outside.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Rangers play-by-play announcer Dave Raymond exclaimed on the Bally Sports Southwest broadcast. “What in the world?”
If the broadcast wasn’t clear enough, the MLB Gameday tracker also indicated that Hernández went very, very wrong here.
