Pittsburgh Pirates: Ke'Bryan Hayes Unhappy with Umpires

Major League Baseball did a lot of good things this year. The League finally took the initiative to try and improve a game and it actually worked! The product on the field is better and attendance is way up across Major League Baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates should try something like this, change if it's not working, and put a better product on the field.

In all seriousness, the game is much better to watch than ever before. However, there is one element that still needs to be changed and that is the ability of the umpire to judge ball and strikes. We somewhat took away the umpire's judgment in the field with replay, so why can we not take away the umpire's judgment behind the plate?

It has been a tough year for the Pittsburgh Pirates in terms of the strike zone. It is not just every game but every inning anymore it seems like a blown strike/ball negatively impacts the Pittsburgh Pirates. Derek Shelton, players, and other coaches on the bench have been thrown out numerous times this year because of the inconsistencies behind the plate.

Finally, a player has said something more public about this issue. Ke'Bryan Hayes, the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman, posted a tweet yesterday to give some context on this exact situation. Hayes was a head against a pitcher who then was helped out on pitch that was clearly a ball. It would have been the fourth ball, instead Hayes would end up getting out.

Some umpires really don’t care. 3-1 call not even close. I hold him accountable after the game walking off the field and his response is “🤷🏽‍♂️ I gave you a chance to hit a homerun” that tells me you don’t care at all. No accountability. Bring the ABS please @MLB pic.twitter.com/sgncakv8v8
— KeBryan Hayes (@KeBryanHayes) September 10, 2023

There is a lot to like about this post. First and foremost most good one Hayes for exposing the umpire, the response back from the ump is so arrogant. Second, to show a visual representation of the pitch, to actually support his claim and not just sound like he is winning post-game. Also, in general, more players need to do this!

Stop letting the umpires dictate the game so much because in the long run the players, coaches, organizations, and fans are all effected one way or another. It is time for the electronic strike zone, I cannot deal with the types of calls like the above any longer. It seems players are at this point too.

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