MLB Ejection 065 - Ryan Wills (2; Jose Siri)

HP Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Rays CF Jose Siri (strike one & two calls; QOCY) in the top of the 9th inning of the #Rays-#Orioles game. With none out and none on, Rays batter Siri took 3-0 and 3-1 fastballs from Orioles pitcher Craig Kimbrel for strikes one and two, before striking out swinging. Replays indicate strike one was located over the outer edge of home plate and thigh-high (px 0.66, pz 2.57) and the pitch ruled strike two was located over the inner edge of home plate and belt-high (px -0.68, pz 2.83), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Orioles were leading, 3-1. The Orioles ultimately won the contest, 3-1.

This is Ryan Wills (20)'s 2nd ejection of 2024.

*UEFL Rule 6-2-b-1 (Kulpa Rule): |0| < STRIKE < |.748| < BORDERLINE < |.914| < BALL.

Strike one was located 3.05 and strike two was 2.81 horizontal inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 65th ejection of the 2024 MLB regular season.

This is the 27th player ejection of 2024. Prior to ejection, Siri was 0-2 (2 SO) in the contest.

Ejection Tally: 28 Managers, 10 Coaches, 27 Players.

This is Tampa Bay's 2nd ejection of 2024, T-3rd in the AL East (NYY 5; TOR 4; BAL, TB 2; BOS 1).

This is Jose Siri's 2nd ejection of 2024, 1st since April 30 (Chris Guccione; QOC = U [Fighting]).

This is Ryan Wills' 2nd ejection of 2024, 1st since April 17 (John Schneider; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles, 5/31/24 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 014 - Ryan Wills (1; John Schneider)

HP Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Blue Jays manager John Schneider (strike one call to Vladimir Guerrero; QOCN) in the bottom of the 9th inning of the #Yankees-#BlueJays game. With two out and one on, Blue Jays batter Guerrero took a first-pitch sinker from Yankees pitcher Clay Holmes for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the heart of home plate and below the hollow of the knee (px -0.12, pz 1.48 [sz_bot 1.75 / RAD 1.63 / MOE 1.55]), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Yankees were leading, 6-4. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 6-4.

This is Ryan Wills (20)'s 1st ejection of 2024.

*This pitch was located 0.84 vertical inches from being deemed correct.

This is the 14th ejection report of the 2024 MLB regular season.

This is the 5th manager ejection of 2024.

Ejection Tally: 5 Managers, 2 Coaches, 7 Players.

This is Toronto's 2nd ejection of 2024, 1st in the AL East (TOR 2; BOS, NYY 1; BAL, TB 0).

This is John Schneider's 1st ejection since Aug 10, 2023 (Jeremie Rehak; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Ryan Wills' 1st ejection since May 14, 2023 (Bryce Harper; QOC = U [Fighting]).

Wrap: New York Yankees vs Toronto Blue Jays, 4/17/24 | Video as follows:

Clint Vondrak and Ryan Wills Hired to Umpire Staff, Guccione Promoted to Crew Chief; Pawol on List of 24 Spring Invitees

Now-former Triple-A umpires Clint Vondrak and Ryan Wills are MLB's two newest full-timers MLB also promoted Chris Guccione to full-time Crew Chief and invited Jen Pawol to Spring Training, the first woman set to umpire a major league exhibition game since Ria Cortesio in 2007, following Pam Postema in the 1980s.

Clinton "Clint" Vondrak joins MLBU at the age of 34 after 12 years in Minor League Baseball, joining MiLB in 2012 and officiating the Pioneer, Midwest, California, Southern, and Pacific Coast Leagues on his way to the majors. Vondrak officiated the 2016 Southern League All-Star Game and has had his MLB debut during during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, on August 10, 2020. He has 286 games of MLB experience.

Ryan Wills is 36 years old to begin the 2024 season and has been hired after 13 years in MiLB. Since starting his minor league career in 2011, Wills has officiated in the Gulf Coast, Appalachian, South Atlantic, California, Carolina, Texas, Eastern, Florida Instructional, and International Leagues prior to his August 22, 2020 debut. Wills might be one of the last MLB new-hires to have graduated from the Jim Evans Academy for Professional Umpiring, which closed in 2012. Wills has worked 402 MLB games.

Chris Guccione has been promoted to Crew Chief after 17 years of major league service (over the course of 24 seasons starting in 2000). He has 3,021 major league games of experience during the regular season, in addition to 9 Wild Card Rounds, 7 Division Series, 5 League Championship Series, and 2 World Series. Similar to Dan Bellino last offseason, Guccione did not work the 2023 postseason prior to his 2024 promotion.

2024 Spring Training Invitee Umpires: Returning sleeve-numbered umpires for Spring Training in 2024 are David Arrieta (100), John Bacon (70), Brock Ballou (119), Paul Clemons (104), Tom Hanahan (69), Edwin Jimenez (75), Emil Jimenez (82), Alex MacKay (105), Dan Merzel (107), Jacob Metz (94), Charlie Ramos (111), Jeremy Riggs (112), Derek Thomas (106), Nate Tomlinson (114), and Brian Walsh (120).

Rounding out the list of 24 Spring invitees are Matt Brown, Steven Jaschinski, James Jean, Austin Jones, Tyler Jones, Dexter Kelley, Chris Marco, Johnathan Parra, and Jen Pawol.

Video as follows:

Cronenworth Runs Into Umpire, Ruled Out at 2nd Base

Padres baserunner Jake Cronenworth ran into 2B Umpire Ryan Wills on an infield ground ball as he tried to reach second base, falling over and allowing the Cubs plenty of time to get the out. Should this have been umpire interference or is this nothing...and where should an umpire stand on a play at second base?

To begin, this collision is not umpire interference as there are only two forms of umpire interference in the rulebook: one, when the umpire interferes with the catcher's throw to retire a runner (or interferes with the catcher returning the ball to the pitcher); and, two, when the umpire working inside (as Wills did here) gets hit by a batted ball before the ball has passed an infielder, provided it did not first touch the pitcher.

Thus, there is no umpire interference and no reason to declare the ball dead: 2B Umpire Wills is considered part of the field as Cronenworth runs into him and the out call prevails.

As for position, although an initial stance of Deep B along the infield grass is proper, perhaps we can borrow from the wild pitch principle of clearing the catcher to, instead, "clear the base path" (or potential base path, which includes the baseline) and thus avoid the likelihood of a runner running into the back of an umpire preparing to take a play at the action base.

Video as follows:

MLB Ejections 057-59 - Ryan Wills (1-3; PHI-COL)

HP Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Phillies manager Rob Thomson (strike three call; QOCY) in the top of the 6th, and Rockies pitcher Jake Bird and Phillies DH Bryce Harper (fighting) in the top of the 7th inning of the #Phillies-#Rockies game. In the 6th, with one out and two on, Phillies batter Kyle Schwarber took a 3-2 sinker from Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the heart of home plate and at the midpoint (px -0.24, pz 3.44 [sz_top 3.27 / RAD 3.39 / MOE 3.47]), the call was correct.* In the 7th, after Phillies batter Bryson Stott flied out to end the top of the inning, Rockies pitcher Bird taunted the Phillies dugout, resulting in a benches-clearing incident during which Bird and Harper were ejected.At the time of the ejections, the Rockies were leading, 4-0. The Rockies ultimately won the contest, 4-0.

These are Ryan Wills (118)'s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ejections of 2023.

*This pitch was located 0.36 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

These are the 57th, 58th, and 59th ejection reports of the 2023 MLB regular season.

These are the 25th and 26th player ejections of 2023.

This is the 27th manager ejection of 2023. Ejection Tally: 27 Managers, 26 Players, 6 Coaches.

This is Philadelphia's 4/5th ejection of 2023, 1st in the NL East (PHI 5; MIA 4; NYM 2; ATL 1; WAS 0).

This is Colorado's 4th ejection of 2023, 1st in the NL West (COL 4; ARI, LAD, SD 2; SF 0).

This is Rob Thomson's 1st ejection since March 22, 2018 (Tom Hallion; QOC = U [Throwing At]).

This is Jake Bird's first career MLB ejection.

This is Bryce Harper's 1st ejection since August 13, 2021 (Ramon De Jesus; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Ryan Wills' 1st ejection since Sept 23, 2022 (Patrick Wisdom; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Philadelphia Phillies vs Colorado Rockies, 5/14/23 | Video as follows:

Guerrero Awarded Home on Obstruction...Interference on Next Play

3B Umpire Erich Bacchus awarded Blue Jays baserunner R2 Vlad Guerrero home, scoring a run, due to obstruction by Tigers 3B Ryan Kreidler on a ground ball past third base. On the very next play, HP Umpire Ryan Wills called umpire interference on himself. Article:

To set the scene, with two on (R1 and R2) and two on in the bottom of the 4th inning of the Detroit-Toronto game, Blue Jays batter Whit Merrifield hit a ground ball into the hole on the infield's left side, where it was fielded in a diving play by Detroit shortstop Javier Baez. With Toronto's runners off with the pitch on the hit-and-run, R2 Guerrero had to hurdle the batted ball to avoid interference, signified by 3B Umpire Bacchus' "safe" mechanic.

But when Guerrero rounded third base, he nearly collided with Tigers third baseman Kreidler, who was stuck watching Baez's diving play and thus inadvertently (but still violative of rule) obstructed Guerrero by impeding his path to home plate by forcing Guerrero to run further outside, thus making his journey home a longer one, both in distance and in travel time.

Bacchus pointed at the obstruction and after the play concluded awarded Guerrero home. Under Obstruction Type 2 (Official Baseball Rule 6.01(h)(2)), Bacchus nullified the act by ruling that had obstruction not occurred, Guerrero would have scored, the penalty for OBS Type 2, which keeps play alive until its natural conclusion before the penalty phase of "nullify the act" is imposed.

Was that the correct call? Had this been Obstruction Type 1, Guerrero would be automatically awarded home and the ball would be dead immediately upon obstruction occurring. In order for OBS 1 to happen, though, there would have to have been a play on Guerrero actively occurring at the time of obstruction.

The very next play produced an umpire interference (OBR 6.01(f)) situation when, with the Blue Jays trying a double steal once again, HP Umpire Ryan Wills accidentally hindered or impeded Tigers catcher Eric Haase's attempted throw to third base. The penalty for ump interference is simply to send the runners back to the bases they came from.

Both managers were out to speak with the umpires in the 4th inning about the respective plays (Tigers manager AJ Hinch spoke with 3B Umpire Bacchus about the obstruction play at third while Blue Jays manager Jon Schneider spoke with HP Umpire Wills about the umpire interference play at home), both calls were concisely explained, and the game resumed without further incident in both cases.

Watching 1B Umpire Wills on a Wild Throw to 1st Base

When Replay Review upheld HP Umpire Phil Cuzzi's ruling that a Reds wild throw at first base remained on the playing field, it gave us a chance to take a closer look at 1B Umpire Ryan Wills officiating the backend of this play with Cubs batter-runner Christopher Morel sliding back into first base after making an initial attempt toward second.

Wills adjusts his position by moving toward first base and preparing for a potential tag play on the runner's dive back into the base, properly declaring the runner safe on the untimely tag.

This Teachable Moment illustrates the importance of remaining with one's responsibilities (Wills has the batter-runner) while allowing your crewmate to take other elements of the play that may need to be officiated (Cuzzi takes the boundary call near the dugout).

Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 169 - Ryan Wills (2; Patrick Wisdom)

HP Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Cubs RF Patrick Wisdom (strike one call; QOCY) in the top of the 7th inning of the #Cubs-#Pirates game. With one out and none on, Wisdom took a 0-0 curveball from Pirates pitcher Manny Bañuelos for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer half of home plate and above the hollow of the knee (px 0.56, pz 1.52 [sz_bot 1.58 / RAD 1.46]) and that all other pitches during the at-bat were properly officiated, the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Cubs were leading, 5-4. The Cubs ultimately won the contest, 6-5.

This is Ryan Wills (118)'s 2nd ejection of 2022.

*This pitch was located 1.80 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 169th ejection report of the 2022 MLB regular season.

This is the 56th player ejection of 2022. Prior to ejection, Wisdom was 1-3 (2 SO) in the contest.

This is Chicago's 10th ejection of 2022, 1st in the NL Central (CHC 10; PIT, STL 6; CIN, MIL 4).

This is Patrick Wisdom's first career MLB ejection.

This is Ryan Wills' 2nd ejection of 2022, 1st since June 18 (Charlie Montoyo; QOC = Y [Check Swing]).

Wrap: Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates, 9/23/22 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 068 - Ryan Wills (1; Charlie Montoyo)

1B Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo (check swing HBP call) in the top of the 4th inning of the #Yankees-#BlueJays game. With two out and one on (R2), Yankees batter Jose Trevino attempted to check his swing on a 0-1 sinker from Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah ruled a hit-by-pitch by HP Umpire Ryan Additon and affirmed as no swing on appeal by 1B Umpire Wills. Play was reviewed and adjudicated by the UEFL Appeals Board (7-2), the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Yankees were leading, 3-0. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 4-0.

This is Ryan Wills (118)'s 1st ejection of 2022.

Ryan Wills now has ? points in the UEFL Standings.

Crew Chief Mark Carlson now has ? points in Crew Division.

This is the 68th ejection report of the 2022 MLB regular season.

This is the 36th manager ejection of 2022.

This is Toronto's 6th ejection of 2022, 1st in the AL East (TOR 6; NYY 4; BOS, TB 3; BAL 2).

This is Charlie Montoyo's 4th ejection of 2022, 1st since May 10 (Lance Barrett; QOC = U [NEC]).

This is Ryan Wills' 1st ejection since Sept 4, 2021 (Dave Martinez; QOC = Y [Check Swing]).

Wrap: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 6/18/22 | Video as follows:

2022 No-Hitter 1, Ryan Wills (1; NYM Combined)

HP Umpire Ryan Wills called Mets pitchers' combined no-hitter vs Philadelphia in New York, joined by 1B Umpire Jansen Visconti, 2B Umpire & Crew Chief Jerry Meals, and 3B Umpire Vic Carapazza.

As it turns out, Wills was closer to perfection than Mets pitchers Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz, missing just one pitch in posting a 99.4% (153/154) UEFL f/x, which for this game matched the Zone Evaluation Equivalent score (153/154 pitches).

The UEFL f/x look:

Balls: 108 called balls outside strike zone / 1 called ball within strike zone = 108/109 = 99.1% accuracy.

Strikes: 45 called strikes within strike zone / 0 called strikes outside strike zone = 45/45 = 100% accuracy.

Total Raw Accuracy Score for Wills = 153/154 = 99.4% accuracy (+1 PHI [favored Phillies by 1 pitch]).

Teachable - Whatcha Talkin' Bout, Wills?

Major League wedge-work continued early in 2022 as HP Umpire Ryan Wills officiated a close play at home plate, upheld via Replay Review, during Sunday's Astros-Angels series finale on a sacrifice fly attempt off the bat of Mike Trout.

With one out and two on (R2, R3), Trout hit a fly ball to Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker, who threw home as Angles baserunner R3 Tyler Wade tagged from third base and attempted to score.

As Tucker's throw arrived into catcher Martin Maldonado's mitt at home plate, Wade slid headfirst in an attempt to avoid the tag while still being able to touch the foul-most corner of the plate.

In this Teachable Moment, tmac works us through Wills' positioning at the dish and how taking a few steps to his right, staying on catcher Maldonado's action-side hip (e.g., the left hip closest to the runner) enabled Wills to gain a keyhole angle to not only see the tag/no tag part of the play, but also to best judge whether runner Wade touched home plate or not as well as any potential plate blocking violation or other home plate collision rule issue that might have arisen.

With Wills ruling that the runner missed the plate touch, Wills patiently signaled nothing, refraining from ruling the runner out until the catcher tagged the runner just beyond the dirt area behind home plate. For the rules aficionados out there, this is an appeal play, as in OBR 5.09(c), for a missed base touch (R3 Wade never made an attempt to go back and touch home plate, believing he had touched it his first time by), for had Maldonado thrown to third base instead (to make a play on trailing runner R2 Shohei Ohtani), assuming Ohtani would have been safe, and the Astros never made a play on R3 Wade (or home plate itself), the run would have scored.

Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 162 - Ryan Wills (2; Dave Martinez)

1B Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Nationals manager Dave Martinez (check swing ball four call) in the top of the 2nd inning of the #Mets-#Nationals game. With two out and one on (R1), Mets batter Pete Alonso attempted to check his swing on a 3-2 curveball from Nationals pitcher Erick Fedde, ruled a ball by HP Umpire Ben May and affirmed as no swing on appeal by 1B Umpire Wills. Play was reviewed and adjudicated by the UEFL Appeals Board, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Mets were leading, 6-0. The Mets ultimately won the contest, 11-9.

This is Ryan Wills (118)'s 2nd ejection of 2021.

Ryan Wills now has 4 points in the UEFL Standings (0 Prev + 2 AAA + 2 Correct Call = 4).

Crew Chief Laz Diaz now has 2 points in Crew Division (1 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 2).

This is the 162nd ejection report of the 2021 MLB regular season.

This is the 74th manager ejection of 2021.

This is Washington's 4th ejection of 2021, 4th in the NL East (PHI 8; MIA, NYM 7; WAS 4: ATL 1).

This is Dave Martinez's 2nd ejection of 2021, 1st since May 19 (Chris Conroy; QOC = Y [RLI]).

This is Ryan Wills' 2nd ejection of 2021, 1st since May 12 (Ramon Laureano; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals (Doubleheader Gm 1), 9/4/21 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 038 - Ryan Wills (1; Ramon Laureano)

HP Umpire Ryan Wills ejected Athletics CF Ramon Laureano (strike three call; QOCN) in the top of the 3rd inning of the #Athletics-#RedSox game. With two out and one on (R1), A's batter Laureano took a 1-2 sinker from Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located off the inner edge of home plate and below the midpoint (px -1.10, pz 3.05 [sz_top 3.32 / RAD 3.44]), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 1-1. The Athletics ultimately won the contest, 4-1.

This is Ryan Wills (118)'s 1st ejection of 2021.
Ryan Wills now has 0 points in the UEFL Standings (2 Prev + 2 AAA - 4 Incorrect Call = 0).
Crew Chief Ron Kulpa now has 5 points in Crew Division (5 Previous + 0 Incorrect Call = 5).

*UEFL Rule 6-2-b-1 (Kulpa Rule): |0| < STRIKE < |.748| < BORDERLINE < |.914| < BALL.

*This pitch was located 2.23 horizontal inches from being deemed correct.

This is the 38th ejection report of the 2021 MLB regular season.

This is the 15th player ejection of 2021. Prior to ejection, Laureano was 0-2 (SO) in the contest.

This is Oakland's 2nd ejection of 2021, T-1st in the AL West (LAA, OAK, TEX 2; SEA 1; HOU 0).

This is Ramon Laureano's 1st ejection since August 9, 2020 (Ted Barrett; QOC = U [Fighting]).

This is Ryan Wills' first career MLB ejection.

Wrap: Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox, 5/12/21 | Video as follows:

MLB Debut of Umpire Ryan Wills

Umpire Ryan Wills made his MLB debut during Saturday's Marlins-Nationals doubleheader in Washington, DC with chief Ron Kulpa's crew of Chris Segal and Ramon De Jesus.

Wills began his Minor League career in 2011, officiating the Gulf Coast, Appalachian, South Atlantic, California, Carolina, Texas, Eastern, Florida Instructional, and International Leagues, as well as the Arizona Fall League following graduation from the Jim Evans Academy for Professional Umpiring.

He was the featured second umpire in Skyler Shown's 2019 ejection of Durham Bulls Manager Brady Williams.
Related: MiLB Durham Ejection (7/4/19).

Wills is the 15th different umpire to debut during the 2020 MLB regular season.

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Ryan MacKay (8/21/20).

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Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Paul Clemons (8/19/20).

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Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Clinton "Clint" Vondrak (8/10/20).
Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Nate Tomlinson (8/7/20).
Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Erich Bacchus (8/7/20).
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Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Lewis "Lew" Williams III (8/2/20).

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Jeremy Riggs (7/28/20).

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