Laz Diaz was behind the plate for Friday night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves, and the umpire’s performance can be best described with two words — consistently bad.
According to a calculation by Umpire Auditor, Diaz made a total of 14 incorrect ball/strike calls during the Phillies’ 8-6 win over the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga. The worst call came with two outs in the top of the 8th inning, when Diaz rang up Edmundo Sosa on a pitch that was nearly five inches off of the outside corner.
You can see the call on Sosa and some of the other questionable pitches that Diaz called strikes:
Umpire Laz Diaz missed 14 calls in the Braves Phillies game, including the largest miss of the day on a called strikeout of Edmundo Sosa that missed by 4.68 inches.
He also stabbed the bat boy.#Phillies #Braves pic.twitter.com/yw6FibCKLD
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) July 6, 2024
That was as wide of a strike zone as you will see from an MLB umpire. It was the type of situation where hitters had to know as the game went on that they should swing at anything close, though that does not make it any less frustrating.
Diaz is known for having a pitcher-friendly strike zone. Calls like the ones we saw on Friday are what led to New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone savagely trolling Diaz just before getting ejected last season.
