NEW YORK — The ball kept finding Angel Hernandez. That’s not necessarily a good thing if you’re the first-base umpire.
The 57-year-old veteran umpire had four plays reviewed at first base in the first four innings of Monday’s Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees — three were overturned.
The fourth play also appeared that Hernandez might have missed it, but it was too close to overturn with certainty.
The four plays:
• In the bottom of the second, Didi Gregorius was initially ruled safe on a bunt attempt that would have put runners at first and second for the Yankees with no outs, but the call was overturned and the Yankees didn’t score in the inning.
• In the bottom of the third, Gleyber Torres led off and was called out an infield grounder, but the call then was changed to an infield hit. The Yankees failed to capitalize and didn’t score.
• In the bottom of the fourth, Luke Voit beat out an infield single that glanced off pitcher Nathan Eovaldi‘s glove. The Red Sox challenged and the call was upheld.
• Later in the inning, Hernandez called Gregorius out on a 4-6-3 double play ball, but the Yankees challenged and the play was reversed to an RBI fielder’s choice.
Hernandez doesn’t have the best reputation of major league umpires, but his overturn rate is only slightly worse than average.
Over the past three regular seasons, he’s had 18 calls at first base go to review and 14 were overturned, 78 percent of the time. The overall rate among all umpires is a 60 percent overturn rate.
To make matters more interesting: Hernandez will be behind the plate for Game 4. His numbers behind the plate are middle of the pack. According to ESPN Stats & Info data, his correct call rate on balls and strikes is 91 percent, ranking 35th of 89 umpires this season.
The Cuban-born Hernandez is currently embroiled in a racial discrimination lawsuit against MLB, stating he has been passed over for promotion to crew chief and for postseason assignments. Just last week, U.S. District Court judge Michael R. Barrett ruled in favor of MLB to move the case to New York City instead of southern Ohio, where Hernandez’s lawyer initially filed the suit.
Since Hernandez filed his suit in 2017, he was selected for the 2017 All-Star Game as well as postseason duty in 2017 and now 2018. His suit claims he had been passed over assignment because of a feud with Joe Torre, who is MLB’s chief baseball officer.