Referee Laz Diaz’ ​​wide strike zone in Phillies-Braves game goes viral

Laz Diaz was behind the plate during Friday night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves, and the umpire’s performance can best be described in two words – consistently poor.

According to Umpire Auditor’s calculations, Diaz made 14 incorrect ball/strike decisions in the Phillies’ 8-6 win over the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The worst decision came with two outs in the 8th inning, when Diaz misled a pitch that missed the outside corner by nearly five inches to Edmundo Sosa.

You can see the decision on Sosa and some other questionable throws that Diaz ruled as strikes:

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Umpire Laz Diaz overlooked 14 calls in the Braves’ game against the Phillies, including the biggest mistake of the day on a strikeout by Edmundo Sosa, in which the ball missed the mark by five inches.

He also stabbed the Batboy.#Phillies #Braves pic.twitter.com/yw6FibCKLD

— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) July 6, 2024

This was the widest strike zone you could expect from an MLB umpire. It was the kind of situation where batters had to know to strike out on any close ball as the game went on, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating.

Diaz is known for having a pitcher-friendly strike zone, and calls like the one we saw Friday led to New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone brutally trolling Diaz last season shortly before he was fired.