MLB’s first female home plate umpire is statistically ranked among the worst of 2026
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MLB legend Darryl Strawberry, author of ‘Another Life,’ joins Kayleigh McEnany to discuss his spiritual transformation. Strawberry recounts how embracing faith and being a disciple of his wife, Tracy, helped him overcome past struggles, including a prison sentence and a heart attack. He emphasizes that Christ can turn any ‘chaos’ into a ‘message’ for those who want to be redeemed.
Jen Pawol made history as Major League Baseball’s first female home plate umpire for the 2025 season, sparking debate about whether she earned her spot, or was it a political statement of inclusion and diversity. Now those debates have been reinforced based on some videos and statistics that prove that his performance on the field is one of the worst in the 2026 season.
SPOILER: He was scary.
According to season-long data from UmpScorecards, which measures every called ball and strikeout against Statcast’s MLB strike zone, ranks umpires in overall accuracy, consistency and how they perform against the expected difficulty of the games they call, Pawol currently ranks 89th out of 91 qualified MLB umpires in hitting accuracy and consistency. Yes.
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Home plate umpire Jen Pawol officiates the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on June 9, 2026. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
He has an overall accuracy rate of 91.8%, a consistent rating of 93.1%, and an expected accuracy score of over 1.6%.
His quality has attracted more attention because he has been involved in several high-profile matches that have featured controversial strike zone decisions.
Pawol had a rough start to his game behind the plate on Sunday, June 16, between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Minnesota Twins. He got three ground ball calls in the top of the first inning by himself.
(WARNING: Language)
Pawol’s first strikeout call, in his first MLB game behind the plate, was also a bad one.
Here’s a challenge from the 2026 spring training game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Guardians where the announcer didn’t tread lightly on Pawol saying, “The call was overturned in the middle of the plate called the ball.”
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The most recent argument came between the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays on July 13, when he didn’t allow the Padres’ Sung-Mun Song to contest a called strike and shortly after, Pawol called a balk to force the Padres.
Umpire Jen Pawol watches during the start of the game between the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif., on July 12, 2026. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
His overall consistency in that game, as recorded by UmpScorecards, was just 88%. The average is 94%. I also found it strange that some referees seemed to protect Pawol from working with the management. I get the feeling that managers can’t argue with him on the field, or they can’t argue with him at all because another umps intervenes. Is it because she is a woman? I can’t tell you that for sure, but it raises some eyebrows.
Although Pawol has time to change things, it is clear from the point of view of meritocracy, he has not proven himself worthy of his position. The worst umpire, CB Bucknor, has accepted a buyout and is stepping down at the end of the season. As Zach Dean said in his piece, I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
Jarren Duran clicks his helmet as home plate umpire Jen Pawol calls him to stop the game as Victor Caratini celebrates during the ninth inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass., on May 23, 2026. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
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I couldn’t see Pawol being given the same shopping situation. It will reflect badly on the league after they made a big deal about his promotion, many people stepped back to defend the decision, but he only lasted two seasons.
