Kyle Schwarber Ejected While Arguing Umpire Angel Hernandez Strike Call; Hernandez Missed Calls On 19 Taken Pitches

MLB: Milwaukee Brewers at Philadelphia Phillies
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Schwarber was ejected in the ninth inning of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 1-0 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday night after arguing umpire Angel Hernandez large strike zone. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning after Schwarber struck out looking, he turned around to face home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, smashed his bat on the batter’s box dirt, and hurled his helmet towards his dugout.

Schwarber’s blow-up was caused by a strike call that, if correctly called, would have resulted in a walk, putting the tying run on base. 

In his postgame presser, Schwarber commented on his dismissal from the game and why he had such a strong reaction to the strike call, stating, “I’m not here to bury anyone, but it wasn’t very good. You wish … I don’t know how to really say it. It just wasn’t very good. Guys were doing a really good job tonight of not saying much. It just got to me to where I was going to stick up for some other guys.”

Hernandez was the worst-performing umpire of the night in the MLB, according to Umpire Auditor, missing calls on 19 taken pitches and only calling 85.3 percent of pitches properly.

When Phillies infielder Jean Segura was at bat in the bottom of the fifth, Hernandez called a strike on a pitch that was measured 6.47 inches out of the zone. The strike call was on a 0-1 pitch with the bases loaded.

On the other side of the diamond, Milwaukee players have a mutual agreement with Schwarber’s report card of Hernandez.

“Everybody saw the game and everybody saw that he was at least consistent for both teams. I’m not gonna say he was good because he wasn’t, but at least he was consistent for both teams,” Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez said. “Sometimes you just got to adjust and not leave the decision to the umpire.”

Brewers manager Craig Counsell, speaking to the media after the game, said, “I think Schwarber said it was big on both sides. And there was bound to be somebody upset when it’s like that.”

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