The Minnesota Twins benefitted from some poor officiating on Tuesday afternoon as a strike call from Hunter Wendelstedt is being called one of the worst of the season.
In the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game, Devin Smeltzer had a full count against Detroit Tigers catcher Eric Haase. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Smeltzer’s four-seam fastball was below the strike zone, but Wendelstedt called strike three to send a perplexed Haase back to the dugout.
Pretty sure this is it. The worst strike three call of the season pic.twitter.com/jmCay1Lvmv
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 31, 2022
Just in case you thought there were some camera tricks making the ball appear low, MLB.com’s gamecast shows that Smelter’s payoff pitch wasn’t even close.
The call was preceded by an incident in the top of the fifth inning where Wendlestedt confronted Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
Baldelli was contesting balls and strikes from the dugout when Wendelstedt can be heard on the telecast asking Baldelli if he wanted to start an argument. Baldelli remained in the dugout and the game continued without further incident.
Hunter Wendelstedt on a hot mic:
"You can't see from right there, Rocco, you wanna start an argument?" pic.twitter.com/SFxjPfOvuR
— Welcome to the Ump Show (@umpjob) May 31, 2022
Whether that conversation made Wendelstedt trigger happy or he just wanted to speed up a 6-1 game that was the first half of a doubleheader, that wasn’t enough to avoid the wrath of Twitter users who slammed the call online.
Hang this Hunter Wendelstedt masterpiece in The Louvre pic.twitter.com/fcU6KgOPZE
— somerandodegen (@somerandosports) May 31, 2022
https://twitter.com/perp3tualangst/status/1531709444433887233
Hunter Wendelstedt if they gave out awards for bad officiating: pic.twitter.com/CUfIZ3A39l
— will: Riley Greene Truther (@wrhiv_72) May 31, 2022
Calls like this are why the Pacific Coast League has decided to experiment with an electronic strike zone this season. While the system has some kinks to work out, it assists the umpires in making the call and offers a system where the batter can challenge the call instantly.
Until then, baseball fans will have to enjoy more calls like this.
