There's no question home plate umpire Laz Díaz had a tough night in Tuesday's Game 4 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Astros.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Díaz finished with 23 missed calls on balls and strikes, including a big one in the top of the ninth when the Nathan Eovaldi appeared to strike out Jason Castro, which would have ended the inning. But, it was called a ball and he then Castro delivered a RBI single that started a seven-run rally and ended with a 9-2 loss for the Red Sox.
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show Wednesday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was asked his thoughts on Díaz.
“I saw what was floating around," Bloom said. "Obviously, you can see the chart. It is what it is. We can’t control that. There are plenty of things in this game outside of your control that sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don’t. It’s frustrating. There’s no question. You could see how frustrated our guys were at points. But we also had opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.
"Either way, there’s nothing we can do about it. Sometimes that is going to work in our favor, sometimes it won’t. Frustrating when it doesn’t, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s part of the game so we have to turn the page and I know we will and be ready to play today.”
Bloom said he would be in favor of robot umpires one day, but doesn't think the league is there yet.
“We’ve seen it here and there, obviously in the Arizona Fall League. They tried it in the minor leagues this year," he said. "I think in theory if we could get to something that was really reliable and actually was a strike zone that looked like the strike zone that everybody feels strikes are strikes, I do think it’s something that could work. I don’t think we’re there yet. And look, this is part of the game. It’s a game played by human beings, it’s a game umpired by human beings. There are those borderline calls that sometimes are going to go your way and sometimes they won’t. It’s part of the game.”
Game 5 is set for Wednesday at 5:07 p.m.
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