The Brewster

This was ruled a swing, strikeout, and an ejection for Pederson...

https://twitter.com/amthatguypal/status ... 6559408132

Looked close enough to be called a swing. I couldn't tell even from the video if it hit the bat or any part of Joc. It would be nice if the HP ump deferred the swing decision to the 3B ump though. As for the ejection, he must have just crossed the line.

Hit him.

I didn't see the play, but if it is ruled a swing, whether it hits him or not is not relevant. Whether a batter has swung or not swung in MLB or at any level of baseball could be debated to infinity. There's a definition in the rulebook; how that's interpreted in real time will always be subjective (even with replay).

Right. If it's a swing, it's a swing.

So what gets me about it is that whatever happened, the umpire ruled incorrectly. It either hit his bat or hit him, the ball was obviously deflected, and subsequently the catcher did not catch it. If it was a hits batsman, he should have taken first base. If it hit the bat it is a foul ball. I cannot understand how the umpire could rule it a strike out when the catcher did NOT catch it, and there was no throw to first base in any case.

The only thing that could possibly be (I don't know): maybe the umpire ruled that it hit the batter, but because he was swinging there was no effort to get out of the way of the ball and the hitting the wrist was batter interference and thus an automatic out? I don't know the rules in enough detail to know if that is a possibility.

You're wrong on the rules there. The umpire judged it was a swing. So even if it hit him, the swing overrides the hit by pitch. So it's a strike and not a HBP. The catcher doesn't have to catch it/throw him out because it's still a dead ball due to it hitting the batter.

The ump has made his ruling!

Lane wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 25, 2021 3:18 pm

You're wrong on the rules there. The umpire judged it was a swing. So even if it hit him, the swing overrides the hit by pitch. So it's a strike and not a HBP. The catcher doesn't have to catch it/throw him out because it's still a dead ball due to it hitting the batter.

Yeah, that is consistent with what it says in wikipedia: "In the case where a batter swings and the pitch hits him anyway, the ball is dead and a strike is called.[3]" . So, essentially, it is automatically a strike as soon as it hits the batter. So the ump must have ruled that it did NOT hit the bat (or it would have been a foul ball) but did hit the player's wrist. The instant it hit the wrist, it was ruled a strike, regardless of whether the catcher caught it or not.

Yup

Looks like the right call to me.

Lane is our resident ump. Doubt him at your peril.