Why was inaccurate, inconsistent ump Laz Diaz given such a big game in first place?

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Any time an umpire becomes a major part of the story in an American League Championship Series game, something has gone wrong.

That was certainly the case in Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Astros Game 4 at Fenway Park. While home plate umpire Laz Diaz was far from the only reason the Red Sox lost, his strike zone was all over the place all game long (for both teams), and his missed call in a key spot in the ninth opened the door for the Astros to turn a tied game into a blowout.

With two outs in the ninth and two strikes on Jason Castro in a 2-2 game, Nathan Eovaldi appeared to end the inning with a backdoor curveball on the corner. Diaz called it a ball, though. Castro drove in two runs a couple pitches later, and the Astros went on to blow the game wide open, ultimately winning 9-2.

Missed calls happen. Umpires make mistakes just like everyone else. But in this case, Diaz’s mistake was predictable and avoidable, because missed calls are part of a much bigger pattern with Diaz.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Diaz missed 23 ball-strike calls Tuesday night, the most of any umpire this postseason.

That shouldn’t be surprising. According to Umpire Scorecards, which uses data pulled directly from MLB’s pitch tracking, Diaz ranked 96th of 99 umpires in accuracy this season. He ranked 88th of 99 in consistency.

So not only does Diaz not stick to the defined strike zone, but he doesn’t even stick to his own inaccurate strike zone. It’s the worst of both worlds.

Any hitter or pitcher would tell you that they can adapt to a bigger or smaller strike zone as long as it’s called that way consistently all game long.

What’s frustrating is the kind of inconsistency displayed by Diaz Tuesday night. Throughout the game, he called several strikes that were clearly well off the plate, including a particularly horrendous called third strike on J.D. Martinez. Then in the ninth, in the biggest moment, an Eovaldi pitch right on the corner is called a ball.

What’s even more frustrating is that there will be no explanation for why Diaz got to umpire such a big game in the first place given his track record, and likely no accountability for this poor performance.

Supposedly, MLB postseason umpire assignments are based on merit. The league’s grading system is likely different than the one Umpire Scoreboards uses.

But what system could possibly be so different that it ranks Diaz as one of the best umps in the game, worthy of an ALCS Game 4? We’ll never know, because there’s not going to be any transparency here.

As the debate over a possible switch to robot umpires continues, MLB is only swaying more people to the pro-robot side by rolling out an ump like Diaz and allowing a performance like that in such a big game.

Diaz was inaccurate and inconsistent in Game 4, and it killed the Red Sox in a crucial spot. But he was inaccurate and inconsistent all season long, so what happened Tuesday night shouldn’t be surprising.

Red Sox fans have every right to be upset with Diaz, specifically, after Game 4. But just as much criticism should be directed toward the MLB offices for inexplicably turning to Diaz in this spot in the first place.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: USA Today Sports