Friday, October 6, 2023

2023 AL and NL Division Series Umpire Roster

Major League Baseball assigned 24 umpires to the 2023 American and National League Division Series round of the MLB postseason featuring Orioles-Rangers, Astros-Twins (ALDS), Braves-Phillies, and Dodgers-Diamondbacks (NLDS). Crew Chiefs are Alfonso Márquez, Bill Miller, Mark Carlson, and Todd Tichenor.

Crew Chiefs are indicated in bold text and by the -cc suffix with regular season crew chiefs denoted by an asterisk (*). Those working their first Division Series are marked with ^1st DS^ postseason will be noted with a ^1st Postseason^ mark. The following listings feature Game 1 configurations such that the plate umpire from Game 1 will work right field in Game 2, and all other umpires will move clockwise (e.g., 3B becomes 2B). Games 4 and 5 plates are if necessary.

AL Division Series (Baltimore Orioles vs Texas Rangers) Umpires:
HP: Lance Barrett [Game 1 Plate]                    [3 WC, 3rd Division Series, 1 LCS]
1B: John Libka ^1st DS^ [Game 2 Plate]         [1 WC, 1st Division Series]
2B: Alfonso Márquez* -cc [Game 3 Plate]     [3 WC, 12th Division Series, 6 LCS, 4 WS]
3B: Cory Blaser [Game 4 Plate]                       [3 WC, 5th Division Series, 2 LCS]
LF: Quinn Wolcott [Game 5 Plate]                   [3 WC, 4th Division Series, 1 LCS]
RF: Nic Lentz                                                    [2nd Division Series]

AL Division Series (Houston Astros vs Minnesota Twins) Umpires:
HP: Brian Knight [Game 1 Plate]                 [3 WC, 5th Division Series, 1 LCS]
1B: DJ Reyburn [Game 2 Plate]                   [2 WC, 4th Division Series, 1 LCS]
2B: Bill Miller* -cc [Game 3 Plate]             [6 WC, 11th Division Series, 8 LCS, 4 WS]
3B: Jansen Visconti [Game 4 Plate]              [1 WC, 2nd Division Series]
LF: John Tumpane [Game 5 Plate]               [2 WC, 4th Division Series, 1 LCS]
RF: Roberto Ortiz ^1st DS^                          [1 WC, 1st Division Series]

NL Division Series (Atlanta Braves vs Philadelphia Phillies) Umpires:
HP: Brian O'Nora [Game 1 Plate]               [7th Division Series, 1 LCS, 1 WS]
1B: Ben May ^1st DS^ [Game 2 Plate]       [1 WC, 1st Division Series]
2B: Mark Carlson* -cc [Game 3 Plate]     [2 WC, 7th Division Series, 6 LCS, 2 WS]
3B: David Rackley [Game 4 Plate]             [4 WC, 3rd Division Series, 1 LCS]
LF: Chris Guccione [Game 5 Plate]            [6 WC, 8th Division Series, 5 LCS, 2 WS]
RF: Ramon De Jesus ^1st DS^                    [1 WC, 1st Division Series]

NL Division Series (LA Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks) Umpires:
HP: Vic Carapazza [Game 1 Plate]             [2 WC, 6th Division Series, 2 LCS]
1B: Gabe Morales [Game 2 Plate]              [2 WC, 2nd Division Series]
2B: Todd Tichenor* -cc [Game 3 Plate]    [3 WC, 6th Division Series, 3 LCS, 1 WS]
3B: Will Little                                              [3 WC, 5th Division Series, 1 LCS]
LF: Jim Wolf                                                [3 WC, 6th Division Series, 5 LCS, 2 WS]
RF: Ryan Additon ^1st Postseason^            [1st Division Series]

Division Series Replay Review: Nestor Ceja, Bruce Dreckman, Junior Valentine, Chad Whitson.
Video as follows:

Monday, October 2, 2023

2023 AL and NL Wild Card Series Umpire Roster

Major League Baseball assigned 24 umpires to the 2023 American and National League Wild Card Series round of the MLB postseason featuring Blue Jays-Twins & Rangers-Rays (AL), and Diamondbacks-Brewers & Marlins-Phillies (NL). Crew Chiefs include Dan Iassogna, Lance Barksdale, Alan Porter, and James Hoye.

Crew Chiefs are indicated in bold text and by the -cc suffix with regular season crew chiefs denoted by an asterisk (*) while those working their first postseason will be noted with a ^1st^ mark. The following listings feature Game 1 configurations such that the plate umpire from Game 1 will work right field in Game 2, and all other umpires will move clockwise (e.g., 3B becomes 2B). Game 3 plates are if necessary.

AL Wild Card (Toronto Blue Jays @ Minnesota Twins) Umpires:
HP: Andy Fletcher [Game 1 Plate]                [4th Wild Card, 2 DS]
1B: Adam Hamari [Game 2 Plate]                 [4th Wild Card, 1 DS, 1 LCS]
2B: Mike Muchlinski [Game 3 Plate]            [3rd Wild Card, 3 DS, 2 LCS, 1 WS]
3B: Dan Iassogna* -cc                                  [4th Wild Card, 7 DS, 6 LCS, 3 WS]
LF: Mark Wegner*                                        [4th Wild Card, 10 DS, 5 LCS, 2 WS]
RF: Jeremie Rehak                                       [1st Wild Card, 1 DS]

AL Wild Card (Texas Rangers @ Tampa Bay Rays) Umpires:
HP: Carlos Torres [Game 1 Plate]                [3rd Wild Card, 2 DS]
1B: Tripp Gibson [Game 2 Plate]                 [4th Wild Card, 3 DS, 1 LCS, 1 WS]
2B: Lance Barksdale* -cc [Game 3 Plate] [4rd Wild Card, 6 DS, 3 LCS, 2 WS]
3B: Adrian Johnson*                                    [3rd Wild Card, 4 DS, 1 LCS]
LF: Adam Beck ^1st^                                   [1st Wild Card]
RF: Alex Tosi ^1st^                                      [1st Wild Card]

NL Wild Card (Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers) Umpires:
HP: Mark Ripperger [Game 1 Plate]           [2nd Wild Card, 1 DS]
1B: Dan Bellino* [Game 2 Plate]                [2nd Wild Card, 7 DS, 1 LCS, 1 WS]
2B: Alan Porter* -cc [Game 3 Plate]         [4th Wild Card, 6 DS, 3 LCS, 2 WS]
3B: Mike Estabrook                                     [2nd WC, 2 DS]
LF: Chris Segal                                            [2nd Wild Card, 1 DS]
RF: Sean Barber ^1st^                                 [1st Wild Card]

NL Wild Card (Miami Marlins @ Philadelphia Phillies) Umpires:
HP: Stu Scheurwater [Game 1 Plate]         [2nd Wild Card, 2 DS]
1B: Doug Eddings [Game 2 Plate]             [4th Wild Card, 6 DS, 2 LCS, 1 WS]
2B: James Hoye* -cc [Game 3 Plate]       [5th Wild Card, 4 DS, 3 LCS, 2 WS]
3B: Marvin Hudson*                                  [2nd Wild Card, 8 DS, 2 LCS, 2 WS]
LF: Jordan Baker                                        [4th Wild Card, 2 DS, 1 LCS, 1 WS]
RF: Edwin Moscoso ^1st^                          [1st Wild Card]

Wild Card Series Replay Review: Ryan Blakney, Rob Drake, Nick Mahrley, Brennan Miller.
Video as follows:

Sunday, October 1, 2023

MLB Ejection 239 - Shane Livensparger (2; Joey Votto)

HP Umpire Shane Livensparger ejected Reds 1B Joey Votto (strike two call; QOCN) at the end of the 1st inning of the #Reds-#Cardinals game. With one out and none on in the top of the 1st, Votto took a 1-1 sinker from Reds pitcher Miles Mikolas for a called second strike before striking out on a foul tip. Replays indicate the 1-1 pitch was located off the inner edge of home plate and thigh-high (px 0.99, pz 2.66), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Reds were leading, 1-0. The Cardinals ultimately won the contest, 4-3.

This is Shane Livensparger (43)'s 2nd ejection of 2023.
*UEFL Rule 6-2-b-1 (Kulpa Rule): |0| ≤ STRIKE < |.748| ≤ BORDERLINE ≤ |.914| < BALL.
This pitch was located 0.91 horizontal inches from being deemed correct.

This is the 239th ejection report of the 2023 MLB regular season.
This is the 96th player ejection of 2023. Ejection Tally: 108 Managers, 96 Players, 34 Coaches.
This is Cincinnati's 11th ejection of 2023, 2nd in the NL Central (STL 14; CIN 11; PIT 10; CHC, MIL 8).
This is Joey Votto's 1st ejection since July 10, 2021 (Doug Eddings; QOC = Y).
This is Shane Livensparger's 2nd ejection of 2023, 1st since May 5 (Scott Servais; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).